11-08, 14:35–15:15 (US/Eastern), Central Park East
Open source is the backbone of many critical technologies worldwide, yet for newcomers, contributing to it can be a daunting challenge. Bloomberg understands the importance of open source, and has recently introduced a program that rewards the amount of hours an employee works on open source technologies with philanthropic donations to charities. This talk will explore how this program, and other such programs, can help newcomers begin their open source journeys.
Open source drives innovation and powers many of the world’s most critical technologies, yet the path to becoming an active contributor is often filled with obstacles for newcomers — ranging from navigating complex codebases to overcoming the fear of rejection. Institutions and companies can introduce programs that recognize the importance of open source technologies and provide mentorship and support for individuals interested in contributing to open source projects — something that can be daunting to start alone as I have felt. Since I believe some of the attendees of the conference may be more involved in various open source projects and communities, I think this talk will show how we can encourage coders who are unfamiliar with the open source community to begin contributing. The talk will have three sections:
0 - 10 minutes: Introducing open source, and the challenges for newcomers to join a community
10 - 20 minutes: Bloomberg’s program to encourage contribution to open source technologies
20 - 30 minutes: what a program needs to ensure successful contributions
No previous knowledge expected
Kaushik Srinivasan is a geospatial software engineer at Bloomberg and a nascent open source contributor