Anticipating the Journey: Launching Your First Open Source Project

I've been deeply immersed in the world of developer products for the past decade, and let me tell you, I've been quite an open-source enthusiast. Over the years, I've had the pleasure (and occasional pain) of shepherding open-source projects of all shapes and sizes. It's almost become a rite of passage in some teams – the moment when your APIs and libraries step into the spotlight. After all, customers want to know what kind of software is going into their code concoctions. But, let's be real, I've also witnessed open-sourcing used as a bit of a smoke-and-mirrors exercise. So, if you're contemplating the daring act of open-sourcing your projects, here are some things to know before you set out.

Manage Your Expectations of External Contributions

If I had a penny for every open source manager disappointed by unrealistically high hopes of a flood of external contributions, I'd have enough pennies to... well, still not meet those expectations. The truth is the majority of open-source projects never witness a bustling community of external code contributors. Just because your software is popular doesn't guarantee open-source success. Open source is like nurturing a garden; it takes time and effort to grow. Building a community involves shaping your APIs, fine-tuning functionality, defining boundaries, and, yes, managing expectations. Expecting an avalanche of external contributions in the early days is a recipe for disappointment.

OSS Can Be Intimidating

While developers generally relish the idea of sharing their work with the world, I've stumbled upon situations where junior engineers were a tad shy about coding in the public eye. In some cases, we've had to delay open sourcing because engineers wanted to tidy up their work before unveiling it to the world. Especially if your team is a mix of early-career engineers, it might be easier for senior team members to offer coaching and conduct code reviews in a more private setting without the intimidating public glare.

Issue Triage and the Support Price Tag

In theory, maintaining a public issue tracker is distinct from open-sourcing the code itself. In practice, these two are closely linked. Opening up your product's priorities to the public means putting them on display alongside real interactions and feedback from customers. This doubles the importance of being responsive to customer issues, efficiently triaging them, and setting the right external expectations. For successful open-source projects, this is a genuine labor of love.

The Need for a Private Mirror

There comes a time when you need to work on something in private, perhaps in preparation for a grand launch event. Unfortunately, last time I checked, GitHub doesn't offer private branches. You might find yourself wrestling with the challenge of setting up a private mirror. What happens when you're juggling a significant launch on an internal mirror while simultaneously managing customer bug fixes on the open-source repository? Mirrors are like trying to keep two squirrels synchronized – challenging.

Saying Goodbye to Obscurity

Some software on the internet relies on obscurity for its security. Open sourcing would be like sending hackers an engraved invitation to a party they don't need directions to.

Unfriendly Dependencies

If your project is tangled up with third-party libraries sporting licenses that are less open-source-friendly than a cactus in a desert, you're in for a headache. I sincerely hope you don't run into this, as unfriendly licenses often come hand in hand with unfriendly people.

Navigating the Ecosystem: Dealing With Dependency Upgrades

Open source codebases often face a common challenge – the relentless pressure to keep dependencies up to date. This is especially true for libraries and APIs embedded in customer applications, where managing transitive dependencies and supporting older versions can be a delicate balancing act.

Teams typically adopt one of two approaches. Some isolate these dependencies in a separate namespace to avoid conflicts, while others enforce a policy to always use the latest versions. Regardless of the chosen method, open-source projects frequently encounter external contributions aimed at upgrading dependencies. Handling such contributions publicly, and sometimes declining them, can be a tricky task.

Maintainers must navigate this terrain diplomatically, explaining that the proposed change might not be suitable for all users by paraphrasing, "You're not our only customer, and this could affect many others." This balancing act showcases the challenges of maintaining open-source projects in a dynamic ecosystem.

Sustainable Licensing Strategy

Open-source software is free and editable, but maintaining it depends heavily on dedicated individuals, which can be tough for businesses to manage without charging.

An academic paper, "The Sustainability of Open Source Commons," identifies four main factors affecting open source sustainability: community involvement, key players, timing, and sustainability aspects (economic, social, environmental).

The paper also points out that open-source systems often struggle to stay afloat due to their reliance on a few committed maintainers. This struggle sometimes forces businesses to adopt restrictive licensing terms, going against the open-source ethos. Examples include Hashicorp and Sentry, who changed their licensing terms due to sustainability challenges, causing backlash from users and the open-source community.

The main lesson is to carefully consider the implications of open-sourcing your software for your business's viability. Think about the risks of plagiarism and whether your business relies on secrecy to prevent misuse. Without proper planning, changing licensing terms later can be difficult for both creators and users.

Unexpected Benefits

Now, let's not forget the unexpected perks I've stumbled upon during my open-source adventures. After all, I've done enough complaining.

• Modernization: Open sourcing often nudges you to modernize your build and deployment pipelines because, frankly, it's easier to get them right than to get them wrong.
• Privacy and security: Open sourcing can make addressing questions about privacy and security a breeze. In an era of regulatory crescendo, it's your golden ticket to showcasing your data-handling ballet. It's like saying, "Hey, world, check out our moves!" 
• Building trust with customers: I've found some outstanding team members through successful open-source projects.
• Trust in open standards and code: Organizations are increasingly placing their trust in open-source software. Your larger customers might care about this more than you'd imagine.

And that's a wrap, folks. Best of luck with your open-source journey!