Track: BOF
Date: Thursday, July 29
Time: 6:30pm - 8:30pm
Location: Meadowlark
TrackBack
Many open source developers have commented that managing an open source community in a project is like "herding cats." One of the greatest strengths of open source software projects is the engagement of the wider user/developer community in the actual development process. However, this wider community can also be a source of great tension and uncertainty wihin the project.
This BOF is organized so that participants from a variety of open source communities can come together and discuss the hard won lessons of managing communities. We would like project leaders and founders to share their experiences on how they manage their respective open source communities. What are the key distinctions of community management in an open source context? What elements of community management are "scientific" vs purely art? Is "managing" a community similar to "managing" a software development team inside of a company - what are the differences?
We would also like active participants in open source projects to discuss what it feels like to be "managed." What are are somethings that really work and somethings that turn you away?
We hope to make this a fun BOF and to get folks from across a variety of open source communities to participate and share their experiences.
