Harnessing the Power to contribute to open source for modern careers

Talk in Appium 2024 conference about open source, why should we contribute, how contributing to open source helps in career growth.

2. Scan QR Code
https://linktr.ee/musepallavi
▪Pallavi Sharma
▪Founder
▪5 Elements Learnings
▪Mosaic Words
▪Professional Experience -18 years+
▪Committer at Selenium Project
▪Published Author
▪Coach/Trainer
▪Google WomenTechMaker Ambassador

3. ▪The World of Open Source
▪Why Contribute to Open Source
▪How it benefits?
▪How to get started with contribution?
▪Message from the creators and contributors
of open source
▪Personal experience of contributing to open
source
▪Q & A

4. src- https://www.reddit.com/r/ProgrammerHumor/comments/21ia95/open_source/

5. THE WORLD OF
OPEN SOURCE
96% of codebases
According to the 2024 Open Source Security and
Risk Analysis (OSSRA) report, 96% of codebases
contain open source components.
https://tinyurl.com/mr44ues6
97% of apps
According to GitHub's Octoverse report, 97% of
apps use open source software.
https://tinyurl.com/2s37pbf7
Log4Shell(log4j)-3 billion devices got impacted
cURL- https://curl.se/docs/companies.html

6. Open Source Software
A Software development model, where
source of the code is made freely
available to anyone to view, modify and
distribute it. It is generally done under a
license which promotes collaboration
and sharing.
Generally called as OSS – Open
source software.
FOSS stands for Free Open Source
Software.
https://opensource.org/about
Linux Foundation
(or any of its
foundations)
Apache Software
Foundation
Open Source
Initiative (OSI)
Eclipse
Foundation
Individual open
source projects or
maintainers
Free Software
Foundation
Python Software
Foundation
Rocky Enterprise
Software
Foundation
AlmaLinux OS
Foundation
Software In the
Public Interest
(SPI, sponsors of
Debian)
PHP Foundation
GNOME
Foundation
Free Software
Foundation
Europe
Software
Freedom
Conservancy
Open
Infrastructure
Foundation
and others…

7. Open Source License
Open-source software license definition says that these are legal agreements
that determine the rules under which users can access and modify the code of
open-source software. These licenses typically allow users to use, change, and
distribute the software freely, as long as they follow certain conditions outlined
in the license.
https://www.hotwaxsystems.com/hotwax
-
blog/what
-
are
-
the
-
different
-
types
-
of
-
open
-
source
-
licenses

8. OSS Tools – Test Automation-Web, Mobile
Selenium NightWatch Puppeteer Appium Bazel
Jenkins Junit TestNG Selenide Watir
Robot
Framework
WebDriverIO PlayWright Docker
And many
more…

9. Why Contribute to Open
Source and how it
Benefits?

10. https://www.openlogic.com/resources/state-of-open-source-report

11. Organization participation in Open Source
Distribution of orgs using open source Has the org increased use of open source
from 2023-2024

12. Interesting Trends-Survey by Me

13. Cont..

14. Why Open Source?
https://www.openlogic.com/resources/state
-
of
-
open
-
source
-
report

15. The Career Advantage of OSS Contributions
Skill Growth:
Develop cutting-
edge technical
skills in real-world
scenarios.
Networking:
Engage with a
global community
of experts.
Visibility:
Showcase your
work to potential
employers and
clients.
Employability:
Many employers seek
developers with
verifiable open-source
contributions.

16. Image src-https://www.beycome.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/how-frbo.jpg

17. https://www.24a11y.com/2019/automating-inclusive-
documentation/

18. Concerns
https://www.openlogic.com/resources/state
-
of
-
open
-
source
-
report

19. How to Contribute
Search the Right
Projects
Choose which
open source
project/s you are
familiar with. And
get in touch with
its
creators/contribu
tors
Small
Contributions
Big Wins for All
Use OSS, Bug
fixes, improving
documentation,
answering
questions..
Conferences
and Meetups
Participate in
events as
attendees,
speaker,
reviewers,
volunteers
Teach
Teach people on
open source. Share
your knowledge with
others in form of
videos/blogs/classes
Monetary
Contributions
Every penny
counts.

20. Source-https://dirkriehle.com/publications/2014-selected/the-open-source-software-developer-career-and-its-benefits/comment-page-1/

21. Open Source Projects- GitHub links
https: //g ithub. com/S eleniumHQ /selenium
https: //g ithub. com/a ppium/a ppium
https: //g ithub. com/nig htwa tchjs/nig htwa tch
https: //g ithub. com/webdriv erio/webdriv erio
https: //g ithub. com/ba zelbuild/ba zel
https: //g ithub. com/robotfra mework
https://github.com/SeleniumHQ/selenium
Selenium
https://github.com/appium/appium
Appium
https://github.com/nightwatchjs/nightwatch
NightWatchJS
https://github.com/webdriverio/webdriverio
WebDriverIO
https://github.com/bazelbuild/bazel
Bazel
https://github.com/robotframework
Robot Framework

22. PLANT A TREE ☺

23. Messages by
people doing
open source
-another survey by me.

24. Understanding the
internals helped me
solve problems faster,
and opened up
opportunities for my
career growth. .
I realized it was a way to
have a public portfolio that
helped showcase my
expertise.
Learned a lot about
collaborative work with
peoples with different
backgrounds/goals. This is
really different from the
setup of my daily projects.
Sri Harsha
Has contributing to open source helped you in your career growth?
Diego Molina Ronald Brill

25. Yes, contributing to
open source has
significantly boosted my
career growth.
1.Expand My Network
2.Enhance My Skills
3.Increase Visibility
Yes, It has sharpened my
skills as a developer and.
has opened doors to
conferences, webinars,
and community
engagement
I had opportunities at a
couple of companies to
show off my knowledge on
SitePrism because I was
owning it
Kailash Pathak
Cont..
Puja Jagani Luke Hill

26. “Scratch what itches“.
Fix the problem that
you really want fixed.
Most OSS projects are
also welcoming places.
Using and talking about it
is also a contribution.
Reporting issues clearly is
a contribution. Helping
people in the community is
contribution.
Folks should not be
intimidated with "I dont
know what they will say“,
and should jump into a
project they love.
How to get started with contributing to Open Source?
Simon Stewart Maaret Pyhäjärvi Robin Gupta

27. Contributing to open
source helps in
exchange of ideas and
develop your IP, and
have fun while doing it.
It is a way to foster deeper
connection to the open
source project which
interests you. Helps build
next gen of leaders and
contributors
Speak to your manager
and see if you can have it
part of your day job. Tell
them it will benefit your
company by fixes or
through documentation.
Cont..
Rahul Verma Ed Manlove David Burns

28. Why do it?
Don’t do it ☺ Visibility? Knowledge?
Fame? Networking?
Find your own why
☺

29. Personal Experience
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/dear-
selenium-pallavi-sharma-7qxlc/
Image byGerd AltmannfromPixabay
Source-https://medium.com/illumination/4-types-of-experience-
685db4f6cefd

30. My path ….
2005 – started using in research work.User
2007- Got hired because I knew open source tools.Job
2010 – part of internal org COE team building solutions around oss.Consultant
2011 – started coaching people.Coach
2018 – First talk got selected.Speaker
2018 –Got signed by Asia leading technical publisher.Author
2019 – Participated first as a jury for a hackathon.Conferences
2021 – wanted to fix selenium documentation.Contributor
2023- Recognized as a committer to the Selenium Project.Committer

31. Selenium Docs Committers
https://www.selenium.dev/project/structure/#selenium_committers