The Community Around Open Source

<p> <a class="wikilink" href="/open_source/"> Open Source </a> projects are undertakings that involve several people. There are <a class="wikilink" href="/different_types_of_open_source_projects_based_on_community_engagement/"> Different types of open source projects based on community engagement </a> , but more importantly, there are different types of people associated with each project. </p> <p> For example, a <em> maintainer </em> is someone who can steer the project and its community. It is somehow a leader. There are also <em> contributors </em> , <em> casual contributors </em> , <em> users </em> . The number of roles and their participation is not particularly well defined[ <a class="litnote tooltip" href="/literature/@eghbal2020"> @eghbal2020 <span class="tooltiptext"> Working in public: the making and maintenance of open source software </span> </a> ], and changes from community to community. </p> <p> It is also important to acknowledge that the community extends much beyond the code contributions. There are plenty of people answering questions on StackOverflow that may not have contributed to the program, but they are valuable members of the community. People making tutorials, walk through's, etc. </p> <p> Several questions (some very hard to answer) arise, regarding <a class="wikilink" href="/the_health_of_an_open_source_community/"> the health of an open source community </a> , and <a class="wikilink" href="/how_to_sustain_an_open_source_community_in_the_long_run/"> how to sustain an open source community in the long run </a> . Some projects, especially large ones such as Python, build regulatory bodies well defined, and there is a clear belonging to the group of <em> core maintainers </em> . This somehow evolves projects backwards in time, towards the guiding principles of <a class="wikilink" href="/the_commons/"> the commons </a> . </p>