npmx and the open source mindset
The beauty of open source is that no one is forced to be there. This is what hit me when I first started contributing to npmx. I joined the project after seeing a call to action from patak. I don't particularly know why I joined. I think my fomo got the better of me.
When I entered the Discord, I felt a bit lost. I'm a Ruby, Go, backend developer. What could I contribute to a Nuxt project? And one that builds on top of npm, a package registry I browse only on occasion. Where do I even begin?
So I did what I usually do. I combed through "good first issues" looking for unassigned tickets. But looking around, nobody was asking permission to pick up an issue. Nobody was concerned about multiple people working on the same thing.
Seeing how the community acted empowered me to do the same. I picked up a bug, dug into the code, and pushed a PR. Immediately people jumped in and started commenting. One person was working on something similar. Another had a suggested change to the PR. All of the discussion made my PR better. And every interaction felt like they cared.
This PR along with the Discord interactions blew my corporate mind. In a corporate environment, I would've asked whether this ticket was estimated, or prioritized. I would've asked about aligning the approach before making the PR. I definitely felt like I missed a step having multiple people commenting on the approach of the PR. But this is open source. People do these things because they care.
That's the open source mindset. You decide what to work on. You decide when. Nobody is keeping score, nobody is checking in, nobody is assigning you work. The only thing driving you is wanting to make the project better.
It's a mindset I could only adopt by being a part of this community. Matias (aka patak), Daniel Roe, Salma, and many others created a place of belonging. They showed up every day, in every channel offering suggestions and encouragement. And they put this culture into writing in a Governance doc:
Anyone can become an npmx contributor. Engineering ability is not required
The community is the secret sauce. Something that AI can never replace. The fact that places of belonging and action outside of corporations exist makes me optimistic about the future of open source. I'm incredibly grateful to have been a part of this journey. There's much more to come, since npmx is now in alpha. If you've been wanting to contribute to open source and are looking for a welcoming community, come join us.