Lars Kurth's presentation from Package Owner workshop

Building CommunitiesAimed at Package Teams

December 2009

Wiki: Building a community for a package

The big picture (in case you forgot)

What motivates contributors

Three steps to get contributions

http://developer.symbian.org/wiki/index.php/Building_a_community_for_a_package

Copyright © 2009 Symbian Foundation. 2

Before we start …

Choose a workpartner, form agroup

Welcome!

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Exercise 1

The Big Picture

The Big Picture

The Big Picture

The Big Picture

Creates NEEDsto participate& contribute


Value

fromextracode

OpenSourceTax

Why Open Source?

Valuefromeco-system

Contributions CAN significantly offset the Open Source Tax Why go open source in the first place, if this was not true? Open source CAN create a vibrant eco-system

more NEED to contribute even more contributions

Owning a package is not free!!

Copyright © 2009 Symbian Foundation.9

Open Source Tax = resource is used because: People in package specific roles spend some percentage of their

time… Monitoring and answering questions on mailing lists,

forums, etc. Engaging with councils and the foundation Managing package specific resources such as Wiki’s,

backlogs, bugzilla, etc. Negotiating with internal stake-holders (within and outside

their team) Going to community events Promoting their package

Keeping public and internal SCM and bug tracking systems in sync

Deciding what features differentiate vs. collaboration Deciding how to work with the competition

(commonly called co-opetition 1) )

1) See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coopetition

Contributions don’t just come


Consider the following experiences from other open source projects (Eclipse & Apache) If you open source it or built it, they (contributors) will come

In reality this rarely happens If this were true, we would have much more contributions Just look at sourceforge.com and its many dead projects

Getting Contributions = putting in effort = Higher Tax Active evangelism, solicitation and selling your technology You are lucky: technology managers are here to help, but they can’t do it

alone

Successful Open Source Projects = Technology demand

= the technology is wanted Diverse Contributions

= many contributions from many companies Alignment between open source and commercial products

= yourself and contributors benefit from coopetition

So, what does this mean?


Put in littlePut in enough = Get contributions

Few contributions Little to offset the Open

Source Tax Development has just

become more complex more expensive

… for no return

Contributions offset the Open Source Tax

can also help reduce risk! can lead to better technical

solutions (different viewpoints make better use-cases)

Development has become cheaper

but not necessarily simpler ! Your team can focus on

features that differentiate

(assuming the Open Governance model)


Sharad, the organizerpackage has been working

with SUN to add CalDavsupport to the calendar app.

Sharad put a lot of

effort working with Max

Max, the committer has been VERY active at SEE

The SUN feature will be used by Nokia

Green Shoots: Organizer package

SUN has NOW a committeron the package

(Max Odendahl)

Welcome!

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Exercise 2

Welcome!

14

Exercise 2

What motivates Contributors …

Copyright © 2009 Symbian Foundation.

Why would anyone contribute code?


Companies and individuals contribute to satisfy a selfish NEED Reduce cost:

Avoid re-applying defect fixes onto different releases Avoid branching (and associated costs)

Enable other business: Add APIs/Frameworks that enable a service or a product that is sold Add enablers or a to a platform

Protect investment: Establish your software as de-facto standard before somebody else does Gain and maintain influence over software that is critical to the business

Competitive weapon: gain an advantage over others Legal reasons: copy-left

Understanding these NEEDs is one of the keys to getting contributions Often companies are looking to project leads/package owners for advice ! Understanding these NEEDs helps convince companies to contribute !

Competitive Weapon: some Examples


Save cost by collaborating Lower cost producing saleable products and services cash to spend on differentiators A market position that reassures customers that they won’t be locked in

Reset the competition An open-source project, created at the right time, can diminish momentum of closed-source

competitors It can change competition from an area where the initiating company is weak to one where it

is strong. Example: Google with Android and Chrome OS

Prevent a strangle hold Open sourcing a technology aims to prevent the competition from controlling a particular

technology Increase the potential of building a coalition = Example: Mozilla prevented Microsoft from controlling HTML and the HTTP protocol.

Grow the pond: a tactic to become bigger is to grow the market (the pond) The economic reason why technology firms participate in public standards. Open-source software establishes de-facto standards. Example: Eclipse, RCP and RPM across most Linux distributions.

Three steps to get contributions



Three steps to get Contributions

Step 1: Be present and responsive Landing pages & wikis Mailing lists & forums & bugzilla

Step 2: Evangelize your technology – create Buzz Online media such as blogs, etc. Events, talks, meetings, etc. Step 3: Actively recruit contributors This is pretty difficult and requires practice and building

experience

• A supportive package team, where several team members play a role, makes a big difference• Not an easy job!• The foundation can help with 2 & 3

Step 1: Presence


Presenceis important

for companies & people who

want to contribute

Ask yourself how future contributors find out about your package ?

Landing Page Wiki’s Backlogs

Ask yourself how future contributors get first in touch with you ?

Mailing lists Forums Bugzilla

Lack of information = Not being present = No contributions

Lack of responsiveness = bad first impression= impacts interaction

Some tricks regarding communicating

Introductions and communication Introduce new community members

(e.g. Committers, contributors) on mailing lists or your blog OR ask these people to introduce themselves

Encourage people sending e-mail to use your mailing lists

Thanking Thank people who raise a bug, provide a patch, etc. on your

mailing list

Respond Sometimes you won’t have time to respond immediately That’s OK, but respond and say “I can’t do this now, but will

get back to you in 2 weeks. Remind me if I have not done so!” Show that they are making progress re contributions

Step 2: Evangelize your Technology


Evangelizing gets you noticed by potential contributors Every open source community evangelizes

Not doing so puts you at a disadvantage Creates potential connections that can lead to contributions

Nokia Examples: Gorkem Ercan's blog on Planet Eclipse Ariya Hidayat on Qt Labs blogroll Ken Ryall's blog on Planet Eclipse

Being present is not enough!

Presence only getsyou noticed by those looking

for you!

Channels: Your team’s blog

Magnified through blog aggregators, e.g. http://planet.gnome.org

Conferences Talks & Panels Host Bird of a Feather sessions

Host Community events

http://www.gorkem-ercan.com/

http://www.planeteclipse.org/planet/

http://labs.trolltech.com/blogs/author/ariya/

http://labs.trolltech.com/blogs

http://nokiacarbideoneclipse.blogspot.com/

http://www.planeteclipse.org/planet/

http://planet.gnome.org/

Welcome!

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Homework

Welcome!

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Exercise 3


Now to the REALLY hard part …

Step 3: Actively recruit contributors

Using and making Industry Contacts


Initially use existing contacts that you and your team has. You probably know them already on a personal level Thus, you will feel more comfortable having a discussion They will be more friendly

Ways how to leverage existing contacts: Network with people in Nokia who have open source experience Discussions on how your contacts might benefit from contributing (e.g. practice with friendly suppliers and partners) Other team members contacts, e.g. product & line managers, etc. (get introductions, involve them, get their advice, etc.) Companies that work with other open source projects

You can learn about their motivation (NEED) Often they like talking about what they are doing and why

Be aware of the competitive landscape makes it easier to know whom to approach makes it easier to point out contribution opportunities

Talk to your competitors (e.g. at conferences) BUT: align and keep in touch with your managers


Asking

companies for contributions

is NEVER enough. Companies

and individuals contribute

for a reason (a NEED). Ask yourself:

What is the incentive for

companies to help you?

If there is no incentive, there will be no contribution.

Where is the NEED?

NEEDs for features creates OPPORTUNITY for contributors


Gaps in the platform + products built on top of it = NEED Example: homescreen & extra operator customization capabilities Sharing plans to fill a gap too early can destroy a NEED Not sharing plans erodes confidence in your package

Bridges to 3rd party products and services = NEED Example: peripherals, BSPs, connectors to service APIs – convergence creates

many of these Motivation: more sales for the 3rd party

Apps exploiting cutting edge technology = NEED Example: Augmented Reality Apps may benefit from an AR framework Motivation: save cost & influence what the framework looks like

Professional services companies may have very different NEEDs, e.g. track record to show their work, to get them more business

Patterns for NEEDs will differ depending on technology

You will need to learn through experience

Other Tactics …


The best one is to be able to explain a NEED to a contributor BUT remember: if you explain to an engineer, he will have to talk to his

managers first

Advertise NEEDs on your blog, on the package Wiki (Hot Bugs = “Attention_Required” keyword), during face to face meetings. BUT: but don't be desperate about it AND contributions still need to fulfil quality, architectural, etc.

standards – so don’t take any contribution just because it satisfies a NEED

Sometimes you can create a NEED By developing & publishing a proof of concept to a FCL Evangelizing what you have done (on blogs, etc.) This has been shown to work (but will not always work)

Foundation staff can help identify NEEDs

Check the IDEAS site (ideas.symbian.org)

Make use of the Foundation

Copyright © 2009 Symbian Foundation.30

Foundation staff have a network of connections In particular Technology Managers, Community

Managers and our membership team Bounce ideas and problems past them Get introductions

Foundation staff can help identify NEEDs

If you approach a company Keep your technology manager informed

(builds trust) If you need advice, just ask

Personal Relationships are Key


Meet face to face … But how in times of restricted travel? Combine with events and already planned

travel Always build in a social element: lunches

clubs, beers, dinners, stammtisch, etc.

Once you have a core set of contributors one face-to-face meeting a year will help solidify

relationships

Meeting face to

face makes it

easier to build a

community

It builds trust and mutual respect

And helps build a community hat can withstand conflict (which will happen)

IF you can make your community a friendly place, where people's opinions are taken seriously and are acted upon, THEN individuals will work harder to convince their management to stay engaged with your package and make more contributions. IF it is NOT a friendly place, with no trust and respect built, they may contribute something and then move on.

You SHOULD read ...

The Art of Community By Jono Bacon http://www.artofcommunityonline.org/ Interesting and relevant

Chapter 1 (What is Community). Chapter 2 (Planning), Chapter 6 (Communicating), 7 (Measuring Success) & 9 (Handling Conflict)

Free on-line version

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Focuses on how to attract individuals to a community

But also on general difficulties, recipes, etc. On building communities

Welcome!

33

Make a pledge

EPLing the code: the opportunity


There will be significant PR created by the foundation This will create BUZZ An excellent opportunity to launch yourself publicly as packages

(through on-line media, being at events, etc.) By doing this you are helping yourself AND the foundation

Many of the existing negative sentiments will go away, e.g. But Symbian is not REALLY open source Not everybody can see the code Symbian is a closed “club”

Opportunities to ... Evangelize your technology (and yourself) Advertise your NEEDS And ultimately to recruit contributors

EPLing: Stuff you MUST not forget …


As part of preparing for the EPL... Make sure your landing page & wiki stays usable

Links to code etc may break! Make sure you have committers , sign them up to mailing lists,

introduce them, etc. AND you can delegate to them

The code is correct (e.g. verify Quality spreadsheet)

REMEMBER: Lack of information = Not being present

= No contributions

Wrong information = bad first impression= impacts interaction

Lack of responsiveness = bad first impression= impacts interaction

Welcome!

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Homework

Lars Kurth's presentation from Package Owner workshop

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