GitHub Seeks Feedback on 'Open Source Sustainability'

Devon Zuegel, 'a developer with a passion for governance and economics,' recently became GitHub's open source product manager to 'support maintainers in cultivating vital, productive communities' -- specifically open source software (OSS).

Thursday they put out a call for feedback from open source developers about their contribution hours, their projects, and especially their issues:

As the OSS community has grown in scale and importance, the way we think about working together has to evolve, too. What works in a village or a town needs to evolve to serve a metropolis. Open source has grown from a small, academic sharing network to a giant, global web of dependencies. It now forms the backbone of the internet and technology in general. Just like any growing city, we have to coordinate the knowledge, infrastructure, and tools for the good of the whole community. OSS is an essential and special part of software development.
OSS has also been the heart of GitHub since the beginning. However, there is so much more we could do to support the people behind it. I have many ideas, but first I want to hear from you.

The essay argues OSS maintainers and contributors 'don't have all the tools, support, and environment they need to succeed,' including analytics, communication resources, recognition and 'proportionate incentive to contribute time and money to creating and maintaining projects.' (As well as deficiencies in both governance and mentorship.) And at the bottom of the blog post, there's a contact form.

'I want you to be part of the conversation and our roadmap. These challenges are nuanced, and they are unique to each project and community, so it's crucial that we have an open dialogue as we focus on helping you address them.'

Read more of this story at Slashdot.