Baby Steps into Open Source - Incubation and Mentoring at Apache

At the Apache Software Foundation, we believe in being open. But we also recognize that "open" isn't enough to draw people in and get them involved. Our incubation process for projects is well-established, and we've been mentoring students on a per-project basis for many years, most formally as part of the Google Summer of Code. Additionally, last year, Apache established a Community Development project, aiming to strengthen and broaden our mentoring programs.

This talk will draw on Noirin's experience in helping establish that project, as well as her work as administrator for the Google Summer of Code projects at Apache, to help you understand what's needed to tap the huge pool of potential contributors who already care about your work.

The ASF takes a three-pronged approach to mentoring individuals and projects, encouraging new contributors, and developing communities. So if you’re already a core member of a project who thinks that a few fresh pairs of hands would be great, we’ll cover some ways to get people involved that have been tried and tested on many of the >70 top-level projects at Apache.

And if you’re a user who’s never considered contributing, or a contributor who wants to get more involved, this talk will also give you both the tools and encouragement you’ll need to dive in! If you’ve made it past kindergarten, you should have all the skills you’ll need to work in a FOSS community, at least in theory. Of course, we’ll also cover some of the differences between theory and practice, and what can be done by users and existing contributors to minimise the difficulties that these differences introduce!

Many projects have a user base that’s vastly bigger and more diverse than their core development team. Isn’t it time you made use of that resource? Whether you’re interested in getting involved, or getting others involved, this is the talk for you!

All delegates attending this session must bring and ensure: