The TODO Group – Talk Openly, Develop Openly  ## Metadata - Author: [[The Open Source Way]] - Full Title: The TODO Group – Talk Openly, Develop Openly - Category: #podcasts - URL: https://share.snipd.com/episode/8a4c06e3-b39b-419b-8adb-30fa28c49d15 ## Document Notes ## Highlights - **Career Path from Marketing to Data Science** - Ana transitioned from marketing to developer roles and data science at Bitergia. - She combines marketing, data science, and open source experience in her current work. Transcript: Speaker 1 No, actually, I always say it's been a weird journey, right? Like how someone that comes from marketing chains to a developer or engineering role that is data science. So actually I started in Biturge in marketing positions, but I then started quickly to move into move a developer role community building on open source projects because Biturge had A 100% open source platform. So that's why I get into open source. And by the time I got into open source, I wanted to deep dive more into data science because the company itself was about software development analytics. By that time, I already was testing things in website development. I liked a lot learning about JavaScript, HTML, CSS. But that was all. So then I was like, why not learning Python? Why not learning machine learning models? And how that works getting more into such a stick and engineering mindset. So by the time I was in Biturge, because I spent there like three and a half years, I said, okay, there is this masters in data science. I know it's gonna be hard. It was really busy one year and a half there, but I just switched. And now my impression, my perception is that I can take the best of the world. ([Time 0:02:33](https://share.snipd.com/snip/072e6147-a3a0-4f1f-8f26-db4d99a9b044)) - **TODO Group as OSPO Practitioner Hub** - The TODO Group is an open Linux Foundation community of OSPO practitioners. - It connects professionals to share knowledge and develop open source program office best practices. Transcript: Speaker 1 Well, for those who are not aware of to do group, it's Linux Foundation, Open Source Project, and an open community of open source from office practitioners. So, Ospo term, it's about organizations that are managing open source strategy and operations. And they decide to pull like a dedicated scene, group of people, open source specialists, to deal with that. So, we found out that there was a big group of practitioners there. And that's why how to do group was created. It's Ospo practitioners. ([Time 0:04:34](https://share.snipd.com/snip/585830de-4e63-4e92-a4e0-88167acb5371)) - **Growth of OSPOs and TODO Group** - The TODO Group started in 2012 and has grown with the rise of OSPOs worldwide. - OSPOs are now widespread across regions and sectors, reflecting open source's expanding strategic role. Transcript: Speaker 1 Yeah, so I think it started in 2012. That's been a long time, but it has evolved a lot because in the last few years, the Ospos have been growing massively. So, in the past, there was just a few big companies, mostly from the States, saying they have an Ospo. But now, when you ask, even in Europe, in Asia, in all the parts of America, you're gonna find organizations saying they have an open source initiative dealing with policies on the strategy Or an Ospo. ([Time 0:05:43](https://share.snipd.com/snip/330b1451-5905-4926-b2a6-f08faa2837f4)) - **TODO Produces Content and Tools** - TODO Group mainly produces guidelines and best practices for OSPOs, tailored to organizational culture. - They also develop technical tools like RepoLinter to help open source repository standards. Transcript: Speaker 1 So it has also our content. So basically the main outcomes that we produce is best practices and guidelines because we in our community, we say there is not brought template to be that not for, like we cannot say This is how an Ospo so this structure because it's changed depending on the organizational culture. And that's why many Ospo practitioners just serve in the public sphere, the policies or the processes or best practices, and we try to put that in a neutral space that is TUDU group. Although if you go to the GitHub repo where all these information source code is public, you will see like there is a few projects like RepoLinter that is more code, a code project that Leans repos, like searching for does it have a revenue file, does it have a contributing markdown file, it's run of JavaScript as far as I know. ([Time 0:07:12](https://share.snipd.com/snip/748cadd2-0dfc-46aa-9a0e-2071cd5773f3)) - **Ways to Join TODO Group** - To contribute, join as observer, contributor, or maintainer based on your commitment level. - Organizations can join as general members or OSPO associates; individuals can become ambassadors. Transcript: Speaker 2 Is that all just the, I don't know, open source style loose uncommitted members or is there a certain level of commitment or levels or whatever? Speaker 1 Yes, the Todougou structure, so we have the contributors and if you go to the GitHub to do organization Repos, you will find like a career lead ladder for people willing that they are Willing to contribute but they don't know how and they want to know that the contributors roles that exist, the level of commitment, the benefits and so on. So that is for contributors. You can become a maintainer of the Todougoub and OspoLgie that is one of our most popular Repos there. And then we have ways where the organizations or individuals can support Todoug. So we have the general members that are organizations managing open source policies and strategy or with established OspoLs that wants to support Todoug. We have like a chapter of the Todougoub journal members. There's also the Ospo associates that are organizations that they might not have an OspoL but they somehow help the OspoL movement and wants to collaborate with all the communities. One example can be different open source foundations or open source projects within LF or outside LF or open source communities helping OspoLs as well. And finally, we do have OspoL ambassador. So just imagine that you are not part of an organization or your organization is not ready to, for that commitment, you can also support Todougou as an individual. ([Time 0:09:47](https://share.snipd.com/snip/64492c50-c1d3-4d6d-9200-b0a5c2f4d32c)) - **TODO Group's Proposal Process** - Proposals for new initiatives require community discussion and steering committee approval. - The process involves open GitHub discussions, community voting, and alignment with TODO Group's mission. Transcript: Speaker 1 Mm-hmm, so that's a really good question because in our past student committee discussions that we aim to improve that process, so we now have GitHub discussions in one of our most popular Reports, that is ospology, and in there the community can file issues and propose us. So one example is for instance, the Ospo Japanese community wanted to create like an Ospo Japanese local meetup, in it it's speaking. So they submitted this proposal, like how it helps the Ospo ecosystem, how it helps the community, and also commit to having, I think it was partially reports on how the community is Evolving. So that is there in community proposals. Everyone can have access to it, the community can vote, can provide feedback and input, and then that is there to the student committee for final approval. ([Time 0:13:57](https://share.snipd.com/snip/6268b79c-cf34-4040-99fe-34f6f06b0a4d)) - **Joining the Steering Committee** - Steering committee seats are filled via yearly elections and appointments. - Active contributors with community presence can nominate and be voted in by general members. Transcript: Speaker 1 Yeah, so every year, the steering committee, they have seats for, I think it's two years period, and there are elections, and then also appointments from the other steering committee Members. So we have like two kinds of seats, and this is happening every year. In fact, I think in a week or so, I will send the call for nominations. So everyone that has a presence in the community that is active contributor can become a nominee, by so many in a form that we serve, and I think it lasts like one month or two months or so. And then with those people, then the general members of the tutor group vote for a person. ([Time 0:15:25](https://share.snipd.com/snip/4d3a0492-52b9-4d49-ae68-f8801f7db012)) - **Critical Role of Touch Points in Growth** - Some organizations want to support TODO Group but lack time or touch points to contribute. - Organic growth and active contribution sustain TODO Group's expanding community. Transcript: Speaker 1 Yeah, so as I mentioned, there are three kinds of ways you can support to do. So for instance, if you want to support to, as a general member, because your organization will have an OSPO, there's two criteria. I think it's been a Linux formation member, it's one of them, and then the other one will be to be committed to open source strategy and policies like have someone, even if it's part-time Or not, working on policies, processes, and strategy on open source within the organization. It's curious, you mentioned Mercedes, because I believe like, well, maybe they are not, sometimes it needs people to be contributing to tutor group. And sometimes even, you know, like we are contributing to so many open source projects. And sometimes it's like, yeah, I want to contribute, but I don't have the time to contribute. ([Time 0:17:20](https://share.snipd.com/snip/6b6d93c4-5285-409d-9874-7a5c907e806c)) - **Ana's Role as OSPO Program Manager** - Ana was the first full-time employee hired to manage TODO Group's OSPO program. - She plays multiple roles including community management, project coordination, and automation facilitation. Transcript: Speaker 2 How did you get there? Speaker 1 Yeah, so I got an offer opportunity. I think it's been now almost two years, well, when you're on the half, maybe I don't remember. But so it was the role of Ospo program manager, that is my official role right now. But technically I do a lot of stuff. I do like, yes, community management, but I also do project manager, trying to keep the web post clean, updated, automating process to ease contributions that is my major role to help Others to make their lives easier, contributing to the tutor resources, putting other into chaos and encouraging contributions to keep building the staff together. Speaker 2 Does that role of you, does that mean you're automatically on the steering committee or not? Speaker 1 I help the steering committee. I'm not part of the steering committee, but the steering committee meets with the program manager that it's my role. And for instance, I prepared the agenda, I make sure all the questions, issues are raised and organized all that. Speaker 2 Okay, so you're not a member, but you have the facilitator and the moderator of it? Yeah, correct. All right, I understand. Speaker 1 And are there any other employees of tutor group? Not full time, so I was the first, when I was hired, they told me, tutor group didn't have at that point any full time employee, because it was a community driven effort. It's still a community driven effort, and now I have one full time person trying to help on their task. Although I have the LF support, for instance, if we need engineering support or marketing support, I can reach out to people in the LF team, but they are not working directly to tutor. I'm the link spin in between the open source community that is tutor group and the wider Linux Foundation ecosystem. ([Time 0:18:38](https://share.snipd.com/snip/b9178656-fc0f-421c-b79f-54061f110a27)) - **TODO Group's Strategic Goals** - TODO Group's strategic goals focus on OSPO adoption, community growth, and creating value for participants. - These goals are publicly documented in the governance repository for transparency. Transcript: Speaker 1 Yeah, so one of the reports is called governance repo. So everything we've talked about, the general member seat, the charter and so on, all of that is public. People can find it in the governance repo, and in there you will find also that we developed yearly goals. ([Time 0:21:01](https://share.snipd.com/snip/d2560c44-0855-4726-9150-f294949e057f)) - **Getting Started with TODO Group** - Newcomers should start at todogroup.org/community/get-started and use their GitHub repos. - Engaging with live community chats and events like OSPOlogy Live helps learning and networking. Transcript: Speaker 1 So the website is a great space. There is a page that is called to the group.org's last community. And if you want to get started, we had on-barden guidelines for both community members and general members. So I think that it's a great place to start. It will give you like an overview on all the different channels, working groups and workflow that we follow. And of course, the to do GitHub repo organization that has like all the different repos, it's also a great place. And it's like channel that we use as a real-time chat conversations. ([Time 0:21:52](https://share.snipd.com/snip/ca9012f1-3025-4e8a-b59e-9708e552fdb3)) - **TODO Group's Inclusive Community** - TODO Group welcomes all who want to learn about OSPOs, including students and career changers. - It is a collaborative hub for building OSPO best practices and gaining practical experience. Transcript: Speaker 2 Mm-hmm. Speaker 1 So the first one is that I believe to the group can be a great place for people willing to learn more on open source brown offices and gain experience of open source brown offices. You don't have to be within an organization. You can be an student also willing to help to get your started or change roles in your open source career. We always welcome the community and that you can get your ideas getting started. It's a collaborative hub to build open source brown office best practices and you can become a contributor. And I know I said too, but I think that's enough. ([Time 0:23:57](https://share.snipd.com/snip/34ae3d17-34ad-491c-b236-202042c7227b))