Open Source Projects - Beyond Code by John Mertic

Author:John Mertic
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Packt Publishing Pvt Ltd
Published: 2023-03-28T00:00:00+00:00

Knows the code base well

Organized

Understands the technology

Good communicator and writer

Can debug issues

Problem solver

Good software development skills

Curious thinker

Table 7.1 – Technical skills versus soft skills

Being a maintainer is one part technical management and another part people management, which requires soft skills. The technical side is usually fairly trivial to evaluate; look at the code contributions made and you can quickly see whether the person is a good software developer or not. However, for the soft skills side, there isn’t one place to look and evaluate; you’ll want to review a number of different places:

Do they post in mailing lists/chat channels/forums? What is their tone like? Is it respectful and humble, or arrogant and confrontational?

Do they answer questions from others or help debug issues and problems people are having? Are those interactions patient and understanding, or frustrating and demoralizing?

When this person is involved in a conflict, how do they respond? Do they engage directly and point fingers? Do they run the other way? Do they try to understand others’ points (a topic that we will dig more into in Chapter 8, Dealing with Conflict).

Is the person a regular in the project, or does their participation ebb and flow? If they are needed for something, can you count on them to come through?

What are the long-term career goals of this person? Are they someone who jumps from thing to thing, or sticks with jobs and works for a longer period?

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