Speaker
Mr
Justin W. Flory
(Fedora Project)
Description
There are few Open Source projects today with as much rich history, releases, and lived experience as the Linux kernel and the various Linux distributions that provide a user-ready operating system. Linux is the rock-solid foundation underlying most of the world’s Internet infrastructure online today. But what is the lifecycle of these complex operating system distributions and how does someone participate as an Open Source contributor? This interactive workshop will get attendees to explore the dynamics of open source Linux communities, what software engineering and packaging look like in the RHEL, Fedora, and CentOS distributions, and create a self-guided map for attendees to land a contribution in an open source ecosystem with over 30 years of history.
| Category | Encourage new contributors |
|---|---|
| Talk Description | [10m] Activity: Follow the package. How would you distribute an Open Source project as a package? Instructions: Break out into small groups, or stay in your existing group. Order items below in a sequence, where the beginning and end are known: START: Source code hosting platform (e.g. GitHub). END: End-user opens a desktop app (e.g. you, a friend, a colleague, a teammate). Share one sentence per group to explain your sequence. Options (in random order): Steps in updating a package in Fedora Linux (note, these are in random order!): Documentation about new features in the desktop app. Fedora Linux operating system on your personal or work computer. Fedora Linux software repository on the public Internet. Marketing a new release and features added in the release. RPM spec file for a desktop app (e.g. Discord, Slack, or your favorite app). My order: RPM spec file. Documentation about new features. Fedora Linux software repository. Marketing a new release. Fedora Linux OS. [5m] Discussion: Did you and your group immediately agree on an order? What surprised you about how others ordered/prioritized these items? What did you see or hear from other groups that stuck with you? [10m] Input: The lifecycle of a software package in the Fedora ecosystem. Overview of software packaging: From Rawhide to Fedora branched, Fedora to CentOS Stream, CentOS Stream to RHEL Ancillary activities around the software packaging: Marketing, Design, Magazine, Community Blog, Events, Advocacy, Translations, etc. Certain things you have to do to keep applications running / maintained, and Linux as a platform provides reliability (and paying people to do it) Opportunity for companies to spin-off (e.g. Ansible, CoreOS [from Chromium], Docker v. Red Hat/rkt) [20m] Deepening: Getting people to engage across the ecosystem (not just code and software) Example of poor marketing and promotion of an app in GNOME Software. |
| Author(s) Bio | Justin W. Flory is a creative maker. He is best known as an Open Source contributor and Free Culture advocate originally from the United States. Justin has participated in numerous Open Source communities and led different initiatives to build sustainable software and communities for over ten years. In October 2022, Justin joined Red Hat as the fourth Fedora Community Architect (FCA). He works closely between the Fedora Project community and Red Hat to lead initiatives that grow the Fedora user and developer communities. He also helps make Red Hat and Fedora interactions more transparent and open. Justin is also a contributor to the Fedora Project since 2015. In Fedora, he volunteered as the team leader of the Community Operations team for four years and was a founding member of the Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Team. He continues to represent and advocate for Fedora Linux internationally at events and conferences, including OS Community Africa Festival, CHAOSScon (Africa & Europe editions), FOSDEM, DevConf CZ, All Things Open, OSCAL, and others. |
| Pronouns | he/him |
| Twitter and/or Mastodon Handle | @jwf@floss.social |
| Where are you located? | United States |
| Do you need travel sponsorship from GNOME Foundation in order to join our event? | No |
Primary author
Mr
Justin W. Flory
(Fedora Project)
