I’ve just read this (old) post: <https://www.igvit...

# opensource

[orangy]

I’ve just read this (old) post: https://www.igvita.com/2011/12/19/dont-push-your-pull-requests/
Being on both sides of the fence quite often (e.g. with #ktor on receiving side and with IntelliJ on contributing side), I wonder if we can make the process of contributing to OSS projects a better experience for both parties. If you do open source, can you share your stories, issues and ideas about doing it better?

[oshai]

I am also on both sides, but mostly contributes to other. I try to adopt the manner of communicating before starting to work on a PR. I can say that sometimes responses are not timely and not encouraging start working on an issue.

[s4nchez]

My best experiences of receiving contribution to my open source project 1) started with a conversation (in slack or a GH issue) 2) involved some form of pair programming, either by extensively discussing the change, or actually pairing on the solution. I find that's energy way better spent than back-and-forth on PRs.

I also appreciate that approach does not scale, so my second-preferred option is just being very open to people's contribution and working on those later to make them viable to release.

[nish]

I’m a little late to this but properly tagging issues with good-first-issue, low-hanging-fruit etc. It’s tempting to fix those, but letting the community do it drives interest and engagement.

Next is communicating a clear roadmap for where the project is going. More complex features / bugs need mentoring so having a process for that is always helpful.