The Open Source Contributor Funnel  [[3. Resources/Readwise/Full Document Contents/Articles/The Open Source Contributor Funnel|Full Document Contents]] ## Document Notes 1. Question: Who are the maintainers of an open source project? Answer: The maintainers of an open source project review and merge contributors from contributors and generally run the project. 2. Question: How can you encourage people to fix their own issues in an open source project? Answer: Encouraging people to submit a pull request rather than just asking for help can help them fix their own issues. 3. Question: What is the purpose of a "Code of Conduct" in an open source project? Answer: A Code of Conduct helps set expectations of acceptable behavior on a project to avoid toxic users, contributors or maintainers that make open source no fun and people don’t want to spend their time on projects that aren’t fun. ## Summarize: The article discusses the importance of attracting and retaining contributors and maintainers for open source projects. It emphasizes the need to think of the user and the contributor funnel, where users become contributors and contributors evolve into maintainers. The article provides guidelines for getting more and better contributions, such as encouraging people to submit pull requests and documenting expectations for maintainers. It also highlights the importance of retention, outlining specific measures to keep users, contributors, and maintainers engaged with the project. ## Bullet Points: - The user, contributor, and maintainer are important groups in open source projects. - Users are those who use the software but do not contribute code or documentation. - Contributors submit code or documentation but need someone to review and merge their contributions. - Maintainers review and merge contributors and generally run the project. - Most contributors were users first, and most maintainers were contributors and users before becoming maintainers. - Maintainers need to maintain their perspective as users to perform their role effectively. - Projects should utilize strategies to move people through the contributor funnel. - Strategies include asking people to submit issues instead of random mentions on social media, helping people create pull requests, and identifying potential maintainers from contributors. - Retention is important, and different groups require different approaches to encourage them to stick around. - Users value high-quality software, contributors benefit from open discussions and a clear issue tracker, and maintainers need a code of conduct and opportunities for private communication. - Adding new maintainers is essential to keep the project running smoothly. - Understanding why people contribute and applying effective strategies can attract more contributors and maintainers to the project. ## Paraphrase: 1. The article discusses the significance of attracting and retaining contributors and maintainers for open source projects. It emphasizes the need to consider the user and the contributor funnel, which involves users becoming contributors and contributors transforming into maintainers. The article provides suggestions for obtaining more and better contributions by encouraging individuals to submit pull requests and documenting expectations for maintainers. It also highlights the importance of retention, outlining specific measures to keep users, contributors, and maintainers engaged with the project. 2. The author emphasizes the importance of a contributor funnel in open source projects. They explain that users often become contributors to solve a problem they are experiencing, and contributors often become maintainers after helping build the project. Maintainers need to remain users to maintain context and empathy. The author likens this funnel to a sales funnel and acknowledges that there is a drop-off at each stage. To attract more contributions, the author suggests asking individuals to submit issues instead of random mentions on social media, helping them create pull requests, and identifying potential maintainers from contributors. Retention is also crucial, and the author offers advice for keeping different groups engaged, such as prioritizing high-quality software for users, facilitating open discussions for contributors, and establishing a code of conduct for maintainers. ## Highlights - he **users** of an open source project are the people who use the software but aren’t submitting code, documentation or performing issue triage ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h5g5psg94x4bwyp6cfr3mjtp)) - the **contributors** to an open source project are those who are submitting code or documentation (i.e. as a pull request if on GitHub) but need someone to give them code review and merge their contribution. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h5g5pkdpq24c700jr67e3p9d)) - 🛠 the **maintainers** of an open source project are the people who review and merge contributors from contributors and generally run the project. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h5g5q0c5dsxtd507bvq6sztv)) - most contributors were users first ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h5g5qc0h9zrwb46gy57ac4rw)) - most maintainers were a contributor and user first ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h5g5qgqchh54qggfkx2m209k)) - maintainers cannot do a good job without remaining a user ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h5g5qvgga0fpe1kbv8wmrwad)) - People will need encouragement to fix their own issues. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h5g5s6chcn6wf6w63pkxeckj)) - There’s no point in you getting more contributors, maintainers and even users if they leave your project quickly ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h5g5tmw6a8x1598p152q3fn9)) - Code of Conduct. These help set expectations of acceptable behaviour on a project ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h5g5wb016gs7neqxcmgc6n3j)) - Private chat. Give the maintainers somewhere to bond, discuss and resolve conflict privately ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h5g5wfk8zpctv0txw9xnrye5)) - Keep adding maintainers. Most maintainers have a shelf-life so you need to keep looking for more maintainers for when the current ones leave ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h5g5wmz96744v3xrz9dz522r))