I’ve been deeply immersed in the world of developer products for the past decade, and let me tell you, I’ve been quite an open-source enthusiast. Over the years, I’ve had the pleasure (and occasional pain) of shepherding open-source projects of all shapes and sizes. It’s almost become a rite of passage in some teams – the moment when your APIs and libraries step into the spotlight. After all, customers want to know what kind of software is going into their code concoctions. But, let’s be real, I’ve also witnessed open-sourcing used as a bit of a smoke-and-mirrors exercise. So, if you’re contemplating the daring act of open-sourcing your projects, here are some things to know before you set out.
Manage Your Expectations of External Contributions
If I had a penny for every open source manager disappointed by unrealistically high hopes of a flood of external contributions, I’d have enough pennies to… well, still not meet those expectations. The truth is the majority of open-source projects never witness a bustling community of external code contributors. Just because your software is popular doesn’t guarantee open-source success. Open source is like nurturing a garden; it takes time and effort to grow. Building a community involves shaping your APIs, fine-tuning functionality, defining boundaries, and, yes, managing expectations. Expecting an avalanche of external contributions in the early days is a recipe for disappointment.
