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DjangoCon 2022 | Keynote: Growing pains of an open source project
"Discover how to overcome the growing pains of an open-source project, including managing user growth, answering questions, collecting metrics, and adapting decision-making processes to ensure sustainability and success."
- A project’s definition of “success” often comes from its popularity, but this can lead to growing pains and management challenges.
- As a project grows, its user base will grow exponentially, and issues will become more complex and harder to manage.
- Answering user questions in other places, such as dedicated documentation or forums, can help prevent issue trackers from being flooded.
- Collecting user metrics can help understand user behavior, but it’s essential to collect data in a privacy-respecting manner.
- Redistributors can repackage and ship projects to users, which can lead to versioning and compatibility issues.
- Versioning and communication are crucial for managing changes and ensuring compatibility.
- As a project grows, decision-making processes need to adapt and become more formalized to ensure clarity and consistency.
- Funding and supporting external contributors and experts is essential for a project’s growth and sustainability.
- Documentation is a critical aspect of a project, and it’s essential to consider different user needs and communication channels.
- Change management becomes increasingly important as a project grows, and it’s essential to find a balance between innovation and user disruption.
- Fundraising and sustainability efforts are vital for open-source projects, and projects need to focus on building a strong foundation for their growth.