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Building CommunitiesAimed at Package Teams
December 2009
Wiki: Building a community for a package
The big picture (in case you forgot)
What motivates contributors
Three steps to get contributions
Copyright © 2009 Symbian Foundation. 2
Before we start …
Choose a workpartner, form agroup
Welcome!
3
Exercise 1
The Big Picture
The Big Picture
The Big Picture
The Big Picture
Creates NEEDsto participate& contribute
Copyright © 2009 Symbian Foundation. 8
Value
fromextracode
OpenSourceTax
Why Open Source?
Valuefromeco-system
Contributions CAN significantly offset the Open Source Tax Why go open source in the first place, if this was not true? Open source CAN create a vibrant eco-system
more NEED to contribute even more contributions
Owning a package is not free!!
Copyright © 2009 Symbian Foundation.9
Open Source Tax = resource is used because: People in package specific roles spend some percentage of their
time… Monitoring and answering questions on mailing lists,
forums, etc. Engaging with councils and the foundation Managing package specific resources such as Wiki’s,
backlogs, bugzilla, etc. Negotiating with internal stake-holders (within and outside
their team) Going to community events Promoting their package
Keeping public and internal SCM and bug tracking systems in sync
Deciding what features differentiate vs. collaboration Deciding how to work with the competition
(commonly called co-opetition 1) )
1) See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coopetition
Contributions don’t just come
Copyright © 2009 Symbian Foundation. 10
Consider the following experiences from other open source projects (Eclipse & Apache) If you open source it or built it, they (contributors) will come
In reality this rarely happens If this were true, we would have much more contributions Just look at sourceforge.com and its many dead projects
Getting Contributions = putting in effort = Higher Tax Active evangelism, solicitation and selling your technology You are lucky: technology managers are here to help, but they can’t do it
alone
Successful Open Source Projects = Technology demand
= the technology is wanted Diverse Contributions
= many contributions from many companies Alignment between open source and commercial products
= yourself and contributors benefit from coopetition
So, what does this mean?
Copyright © 2009 Symbian Foundation. 11
Put in littlePut in enough = Get contributions
Few contributions Little to offset the Open
Source Tax Development has just
become more complex more expensive
… for no return
Contributions offset the Open Source Tax
can also help reduce risk! can lead to better technical
solutions (different viewpoints make better use-cases)
Development has become cheaper
but not necessarily simpler ! Your team can focus on
features that differentiate
(assuming the Open Governance model)
Copyright © 2009 Symbian Foundation. 12
Sharad, the organizerpackage has been working
with SUN to add CalDavsupport to the calendar app.
Sharad put a lot of
effort working with Max
Max, the committer has been VERY active at SEE
The SUN feature will be used by Nokia
Green Shoots: Organizer package
SUN has NOW a committeron the package
(Max Odendahl)
Welcome!
13
Exercise 2
Welcome!
14
Exercise 2
What motivates Contributors …
Copyright © 2009 Symbian Foundation.
Why would anyone contribute code?
Copyright © 2009 Symbian Foundation. 16
Companies and individuals contribute to satisfy a selfish NEED Reduce cost:
Avoid re-applying defect fixes onto different releases Avoid branching (and associated costs)
Enable other business: Add APIs/Frameworks that enable a service or a product that is sold Add enablers or a to a platform
Protect investment: Establish your software as de-facto standard before somebody else does Gain and maintain influence over software that is critical to the business
Competitive weapon: gain an advantage over others Legal reasons: copy-left
Understanding these NEEDs is one of the keys to getting contributions Often companies are looking to project leads/package owners for advice ! Understanding these NEEDs helps convince companies to contribute !
Competitive Weapon: some Examples
Copyright © 2009 Symbian Foundation. 17
Save cost by collaborating Lower cost producing saleable products and services cash to spend on differentiators A market position that reassures customers that they won’t be locked in
Reset the competition An open-source project, created at the right time, can diminish momentum of closed-source
competitors It can change competition from an area where the initiating company is weak to one where it
is strong. Example: Google with Android and Chrome OS
Prevent a strangle hold Open sourcing a technology aims to prevent the competition from controlling a particular
technology Increase the potential of building a coalition = Example: Mozilla prevented Microsoft from controlling HTML and the HTTP protocol.
Grow the pond: a tactic to become bigger is to grow the market (the pond) The economic reason why technology firms participate in public standards. Open-source software establishes de-facto standards. Example: Eclipse, RCP and RPM across most Linux distributions.
Three steps to get contributions
Copyright © 2009 Symbian Foundation. 18
Copyright © 2009 Symbian Foundation. 19
Three steps to get Contributions
Step 1: Be present and responsive Landing pages & wikis Mailing lists & forums & bugzilla
Step 2: Evangelize your technology – create Buzz Online media such as blogs, etc. Events, talks, meetings, etc. Step 3: Actively recruit contributors This is pretty difficult and requires practice and building
experience
• A supportive package team, where several team members play a role, makes a big difference• Not an easy job!• The foundation can help with 2 & 3
Step 1: Presence
Copyright © 2009 Symbian Foundation. 20
Presenceis important
for companies & people who
want to contribute
Ask yourself how future contributors find out about your package ?
Landing Page Wiki’s Backlogs
Ask yourself how future contributors get first in touch with you ?
Mailing lists Forums Bugzilla
Lack of information = Not being present = No contributions
Lack of responsiveness = bad first impression= impacts interaction
Some tricks regarding communicating
Introductions and communication Introduce new community members
(e.g. Committers, contributors) on mailing lists or your blog OR ask these people to introduce themselves
Encourage people sending e-mail to use your mailing lists
Thanking Thank people who raise a bug, provide a patch, etc. on your
mailing list
Respond Sometimes you won’t have time to respond immediately That’s OK, but respond and say “I can’t do this now, but will
get back to you in 2 weeks. Remind me if I have not done so!” Show that they are making progress re contributions
Step 2: Evangelize your Technology
Copyright © 2009 Symbian Foundation. 22
Evangelizing gets you noticed by potential contributors Every open source community evangelizes
Not doing so puts you at a disadvantage Creates potential connections that can lead to contributions
Nokia Examples: Gorkem Ercan's blog on Planet Eclipse Ariya Hidayat on Qt Labs blogroll Ken Ryall's blog on Planet Eclipse
Being present is not enough!
Presence only getsyou noticed by those looking
for you!
Channels: Your team’s blog
Magnified through blog aggregators, e.g. http://planet.gnome.org
Conferences Talks & Panels Host Bird of a Feather sessions
Host Community events
Welcome!
23
Homework
Welcome!
24
Exercise 3
Copyright © 2009 Symbian Foundation. 25
Now to the REALLY hard part …
Step 3: Actively recruit contributors
Using and making Industry Contacts
Copyright © 2009 Symbian Foundation. 26
Initially use existing contacts that you and your team has. You probably know them already on a personal level Thus, you will feel more comfortable having a discussion They will be more friendly
Ways how to leverage existing contacts: Network with people in Nokia who have open source experience Discussions on how your contacts might benefit from contributing (e.g. practice with friendly suppliers and partners) Other team members contacts, e.g. product & line managers, etc. (get introductions, involve them, get their advice, etc.) Companies that work with other open source projects
You can learn about their motivation (NEED) Often they like talking about what they are doing and why
Be aware of the competitive landscape makes it easier to know whom to approach makes it easier to point out contribution opportunities
Talk to your competitors (e.g. at conferences) BUT: align and keep in touch with your managers
Copyright © 2009 Symbian Foundation. 27
Asking
companies for contributions
is NEVER enough. Companies
and individuals contribute
for a reason (a NEED). Ask yourself:
What is the incentive for
companies to help you?
If there is no incentive, there will be no contribution.
Where is the NEED?
NEEDs for features creates OPPORTUNITY for contributors
Copyright © 2009 Symbian Foundation. 28
Gaps in the platform + products built on top of it = NEED Example: homescreen & extra operator customization capabilities Sharing plans to fill a gap too early can destroy a NEED Not sharing plans erodes confidence in your package
Bridges to 3rd party products and services = NEED Example: peripherals, BSPs, connectors to service APIs – convergence creates
many of these Motivation: more sales for the 3rd party
Apps exploiting cutting edge technology = NEED Example: Augmented Reality Apps may benefit from an AR framework Motivation: save cost & influence what the framework looks like
Professional services companies may have very different NEEDs, e.g. track record to show their work, to get them more business
Patterns for NEEDs will differ depending on technology
You will need to learn through experience
Other Tactics …
Copyright © 2009 Symbian Foundation. 29
The best one is to be able to explain a NEED to a contributor BUT remember: if you explain to an engineer, he will have to talk to his
managers first
Advertise NEEDs on your blog, on the package Wiki (Hot Bugs = “Attention_Required” keyword), during face to face meetings. BUT: but don't be desperate about it AND contributions still need to fulfil quality, architectural, etc.
standards – so don’t take any contribution just because it satisfies a NEED
Sometimes you can create a NEED By developing & publishing a proof of concept to a FCL Evangelizing what you have done (on blogs, etc.) This has been shown to work (but will not always work)
Foundation staff can help identify NEEDs
Check the IDEAS site (ideas.symbian.org)
Make use of the Foundation
Copyright © 2009 Symbian Foundation.30
Foundation staff have a network of connections In particular Technology Managers, Community
Managers and our membership team Bounce ideas and problems past them Get introductions
Foundation staff can help identify NEEDs
If you approach a company Keep your technology manager informed
(builds trust) If you need advice, just ask
Personal Relationships are Key
Copyright © 2009 Symbian Foundation. 31
Meet face to face … But how in times of restricted travel? Combine with events and already planned
travel Always build in a social element: lunches
clubs, beers, dinners, stammtisch, etc.
Once you have a core set of contributors one face-to-face meeting a year will help solidify
relationships
Meeting face to
face makes it
easier to build a
community
It builds trust and mutual respect
And helps build a community hat can withstand conflict (which will happen)
IF you can make your community a friendly place, where people's opinions are taken seriously and are acted upon, THEN individuals will work harder to convince their management to stay engaged with your package and make more contributions. IF it is NOT a friendly place, with no trust and respect built, they may contribute something and then move on.
You SHOULD read ...
The Art of Community By Jono Bacon http://www.artofcommunityonline.org/ Interesting and relevant
Chapter 1 (What is Community). Chapter 2 (Planning), Chapter 6 (Communicating), 7 (Measuring Success) & 9 (Handling Conflict)
Free on-line version
32
Focuses on how to attract individuals to a community
But also on general difficulties, recipes, etc. On building communities
Welcome!
33
Make a pledge
EPLing the code: the opportunity
Copyright © 2009 Symbian Foundation. 34
There will be significant PR created by the foundation This will create BUZZ An excellent opportunity to launch yourself publicly as packages
(through on-line media, being at events, etc.) By doing this you are helping yourself AND the foundation
Many of the existing negative sentiments will go away, e.g. But Symbian is not REALLY open source Not everybody can see the code Symbian is a closed “club”
Opportunities to ... Evangelize your technology (and yourself) Advertise your NEEDS And ultimately to recruit contributors
EPLing: Stuff you MUST not forget …
Copyright © 2009 Symbian Foundation. 35
As part of preparing for the EPL... Make sure your landing page & wiki stays usable
Links to code etc may break! Make sure you have committers , sign them up to mailing lists,
introduce them, etc. AND you can delegate to them
The code is correct (e.g. verify Quality spreadsheet)
REMEMBER: Lack of information = Not being present
= No contributions
Wrong information = bad first impression= impacts interaction
Lack of responsiveness = bad first impression= impacts interaction
Welcome!
36
Homework