THE README PODCAST // EPISODE 27
Innovation without barriers
Reframing disability and accessibility, playing Minecraft with your eyes, and what AI means for the future of accessibility.
Lisa Vanderschuit // Shopify
Help your team sustain a healthy work-life balance
Finding clarity, focus, and agency in day-to-day work.
Ryn Daniels
How to put the plus in ‘staff+’ engineer
Whether you’re already a staff+ engineer or you’re looking to advance, here’s how to be a force multiplier for your teams and organization
Rohan Gupta
Invite the critics and keep learning
Rohan, aka Blue Edge, on gaining different perspectives, maintaining a growth mindset, and staying true to yourself.
Featured Article
From gaming with your eyes to coding with AI: New frontiers for accessibility
With open source, developers with disabilities can contribute, collaborate, and participate like never before.
THE README PODCAST // EPISODE 26
Co-maintaining openness
The benefits of collaborative maintainership, lessons learned from vintage technology, and tips for getting started with community building.
THE README PODCAST // EPISODE 25
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication
How maximalism creeps into places where it doesn’t belong, finding mentors, following what energizes you, and the power of Ping Pong.
Leonardo Javier Russo // MobilityLauncher
Raising the bar for open source standards
Leonardo is working toward a future where everyone can seamlessly participate in open source.
Featured Article
What’s in a name? Moving GitOps beyond buzzword
An open source effort to define GitOps might save it from becoming just another buzzword.
THE README PODCAST // EPISODE 24
Let the games begin
Getting real about VR, the role of open source in game dev, a new perspective on functional programming, and more
Featured Article
What we can learn from vintage computing
Thanks to open source, nothing is ever obsolete.
Cassidy Williams // Contenda
Documenting knowledge: a guide to successful note-taking
How building a team culture around thoughtful note-taking can improve collective understanding.
Avi Press
The purest form of collaboration
Avi on the beauty of open source, versatility of computer science, and a viable solution to support burnt-out maintainers.
Alexandra Sunderland // Fellow
The impact of culture on code
How to eliminate misunderstandings and create a stronger team from anywhere.
Dr. Johanna Pirker
(Virtual) reality check
Johanna on the colorful, cross-disciplinary world of computer science, and making education accessible to all.
THE README PODCAST // EPISODE 21
Build your own luck
A new co-host, a new format, a functional programming renaissance, and strategies to increase your luck.
Frances Coronel // Byteboard
ONWARD: A framework for maintaining maintainers
Whether the project has 3 or 3000 contributors, here’s what to focus on when collaborating with other maintainers.
Featured Article
Building the future of the command line
Open source developers are making the command line more friendly—and more powerful.
swyx | @swyx
Breaking apart the monolith
The open source movement should really be modeled after social clubs and city governments.
Kara Carrell
Stewards of code, stewards of each other
Kara on supporting, sharing, and contributing to the contributors of open source.
Featured Article
Don’t call it a comeback: Why Java is still champ
Far from dead, the perpetually-popular language is up to speed and ready for the future.
Aaron Francis // Tuple
Publishing your work increases your luck
For every snarky comment, there are 10x as many people admiring your work.
Kathy Korevec // Vercel
Interview the interviewer
It’s not presumptuous to turn the tables on an interviewer.
Mahmoud Hashemi // Stripe
Intentional creation
Tap into creativity with the 4 Cs: Consume, critique, curate, create.
Featured Article
Decisions, decisions: Principles for making important choices in open source
Decisions are the essence of open source maintainership.
Dana Lawson // Netlify
Hiring technical talent: An exercise in clarity, patience, and preparation
The two-way experience is as much about technical skills as it is about team fit.
Featured Article
Chaos engineering helps DevOps cope with complexity
How open source is spreading chaos thinking.
Featured Article
What hacking AOL taught a generation of programmers
The open source ethos behind rogue AOL add-ons.
John Allspaw // Adaptive Capacity Labs
What we talk about when we talk about ‘root cause’
It’s a lot more nuanced than you might think.
Monica Powell // Newsela
Brag now, remember later: Document your accomplishments
In Part Four of her series, Monica shows how you are in a unique position to be your best advocate.
Featured Article
Move over JavaScript: Back-end languages are coming to the front-end
A new crop of server-side tools is making it possible to build web UIs without JavaScript.
Monica Powell // Newsela
Your future self will thank you: Building your personal documentation
In Part Three of this series, Monica explains how to build a second brain of knowledge you’ll use over and over.
Pedro Nauck // Docz
Prioritizing health and balance over Docz
Pedro went from unhealthy, anxiety-filled days to a more sustainable, creative lifestyle.
Featured Article
Astronomy community shapes their own destiny with Astropy
Astronomy is a software based field, and the community is building their own open source tools.
Keeley Hammond // Electron
All it takes is one ‘yes’
Keeley on prioritizing your passion, assigning equal roles in OSS, and paying contributors fairly.
Felipe de Morais // AfroPython
Lowering the barrier of entry into open source
Felipe does all he can to make it easier for others to get involved and thrive in the IT world.
Featured Article
The secrets to onboarding new open source contributors
Mentorship and documentation are the keys to making open source a better place for everyone.
THE README PODCAST // EPISODE 18
Firestarter: Keeping creativity alive while managing workloads
Jani embraces his limits and is drawn to human-centered projects.
THE README PODCAST // EPISODE 17
Three careers and motherhood are just the start
Salma on staying visible, advocating for accessibility, and coding for a better future.
Cassidy Williams
Lift as you climb
Cassidy on creating content, building relationships, and how much you get by giving back.
Liyas Thomas // Hoppscotch
Hoppscotch’s maintainer builds open solutions for all
When Liyas sees an opportunity to make a developer’s life easier, he doesn’t hesitate.
THE README PODCAST // EPISODE 16
Where utility meets beauty: Hoppscotch
Liyas blends a passion for art with a talent for coding.
THE README PODCAST // EPISODE 15
Giving 110% in the right place at the right time
Astro founder Fred on luck, motivation, and breaking into OSS.
THE README PODCAST // EPISODE 13
Python enthusiast, Twitch streamer, et. al.
Anthony on the importance of learning, teaching, and communicating.
Melanie Ensign // Discernible
Effective communication is not about what you say
How to craft the messages people need to hear to get the right results.
Neha Batra
Open source momentum and how to find it
Neha knows that to drive value, we have to start by focusing on everyone’s experience.
Featured Article
What we can learn from “_why”, the long lost open source developer
What happens when your impact outlives your code.
Anthony Sottile
Learning by doing, from Python to Twitch
Drawn to the community aspect of open source, Anthony uses Twitch as a modern classroom.
David Noël-Romas // Stripe
Time management for makers
As makers, software engineers should adopt these seven essential habits.
Cassidy Williams // Contenda
Get your first software developer job
Tips, tricks, and general advice for how to get in the door in tech.
Tracy Hinds // Open Source Initiative
Asking tough questions to make room for valuable projects
Tracy Hinds works behind the scenes to resolve conflicts so open source developers can do their best work.
Featured Article
How open source software powers modern filmmaking
From editing to animation, open source is part of how movies get made.
Jerome Hardaway // Vets Who Code
Teaching in public with GitHub
Uplift others by sharing your knowledge.
Featured Article
Glia uses open source and 3D printing to enable universal access to medical equipment
From conflict zones to COVID-19 shortages, Glia is bringing medical equipment to those who need it most.
Featured Article
How open source maintainers keep contributors—and themselves—happy
It’s never too early or too late to start thinking about contributor relations.
THE README PODCAST // EPISODE 11
Creating space and opportunity with She Code Africa
Founder Ada Nduka Oyom on giving women the tools to thrive as developers.
Limor Fried // Adafruit Industries
Leading the community of Adafruit
Limor Fried on making firm decisions, weeding out negativity, and building something better, together.
Nader Dabit // react-native-elements
From finding his calling to mastering React Native
Nader is energized by getting vulnerable on open source, learning, teaching, and connecting.
Shirley Wu
Chasing dreams, data, and creative coding
Shirley on creating art, representing Asian women in tech, and finding the work that resonates.
Monica Powell // react-ladies
Elevating others and making open source approachable
Monica nurtures inclusive spaces to educate, learn, be creative, and collaborate.
Segun Adebayo // Chakra UI
Coding at the speed of design with Chakra UI
Part designer, part UX engineer, Segun is all about accessibility, inclusion, and empathy.
Salah Al-Dhaferi // ReCoded-Org
Learning to code against all odds
After a challenging 15-year education journey in Yemen, Salah pays it forward by teaching aspiring young coders.
Tanner Linsley // chartjs
When open source is symbiotic with your business
Hooked on open source, Tanner has a knack for building solutions people need.
Lorena Mesa // pyladies
Building a globally diverse, welcoming Python community
Lorena finds the sweet spot between Python, politics, community governance and open source.
Jory Burson // jquery
Setting the right bar for open source standards
Jory takes matters into her own hands and asks the tough questions to optimize collaboration.
Featured Article
How Python is building a welcoming community for women
The Python community is setting an example other open source communities can follow.
Featured Article
Creating opportunity for women in development
Now is the time to remake the workplace.
Marcy Sutton // whatwg
Making accessibility in tech the rule, not the exception
Marcy on the power of advocacy to normalize accessibility and bring more voices to open source.
Kathy Korevec
Chasing challenges to ship developer solutions
Armed with research, conviction and user empathy, Kathy is determined to find answers.
Featured Article
How the open source community came together to fight COVID-19
As the pandemic raged, open source developers sprang into action to leverage data for the greater good.
Featured Article
How open source maintainers can maintain balance in turbulent times
Open source maintainers are working harder than ever. Here’s how to maintain your passion during trying times.
Brian Douglas // open-sauced
Taking a chance on others, and yourself
Bdougie on the pivotal (often heartbreaking) moments that led him to find his true calling.
Angie Jones // applitools
My differences are my superpowers
Angie makes a point to stay empathetic, share her knowledge, and give back to the community.
Safia Abdalla // nteract
Dream big, and follow through even bigger
Safia leverages her position as a maintainer to empower underrepresented contributors
Caleb Porzio // Laravel Livewire
Bringing simplicity, joy, and order to web development
Caleb on monetizing his craft and the value of transparency and sustainability in open source.
Gina Häußge // OctoPrint
It’s a 3D world, and we all belong
How Gina’s pet project grew into an entire ecosystem that took over her life (in a good way).
Nick DeJesus // use-shopping-cart
Shaping a more empowering future for eCommerce
Nick on more knowledge sharing, education, and support—and less code switching.
Shikha Mishra // Magento
Finding recognition and responsibility in open source
Driven by a strong work ethic, Shikha prioritizes happiness, work satisfaction, and community.
Jerome Hardaway
The modern veteran: A coding superhero
Jerome is changing the game for veterans, writing code, and seeking racial equality for Black Americans.
Andrea Griffiths
Part of something bigger, from the Army to open source
Andrea made a career change and discovered a new world of possibilities.
Michał Gołębiowski-Owczarek // jQuery
Looking deep to have a big influence
Michał’s work on jQuery is fueled by his attention to detail and desire to make an impact.
Mariatta Wijaya // Python
Breaking down barriers for women everywhere
A parent, engineer, woman of color, and open source maintainer, Mariatta leads by example.
Robby Russell // Oh My Zsh
Finding strength and purpose in collaboration
How Robby relies on his team, mends software, and stays true to his project.
Marc Cornellà // Oh My Zsh
Inspired to not only consume, but contribute
How Marc is driven by the community, its challenges—and due dates.
Wes McKinney // Apache Arrow
The sustainable future open source deserves
Wes prioritizes the community to improve data science tools and empower scalable solutions.
David Nolen // clojurescript
Scaling open source by creating potential
David believes in making space for ideas, staying true to your vision, and the power of “no.”
Chrissy LeMaire // dbatools
Finding connection and joy in the open source world
From the Bayou to Europe, Chrissy builds a life that would make her younger self proud.
Benjie Gillam // Graphile
The art of helping people and setting boundaries
For Benjie, open source isn’t just about sponsorships and code, but empathy and connection.
Gift Egwuenu // RubyGems
The connections behind the contributions
Gift starts small to ignite local and global open source engagement.
Alex Ellis // OpenFaaS
Balancing open source sacrifice and success
Even as he struggles with funding, Alex recognizes the value of creativity and camaraderie.
Evan You // Vue
Starting with an idea and building a community
How Evan empowers developers to first define and then reach their goals.
Issy Long // Homebrew
Learning, connecting, and building a routine
Issy stresses the importance of staying patient with themself and taking breaks.
Dirk Lemstra // ImageMagick
A balancing act: Puzzles and practicality
How Dirk found the middle ground between his day job and open source.
About The
ReadME Project
Coding is usually seen as a solitary activity, but it’s actually the world’s largest community effort led by open source maintainers, contributors, and teams. These unsung heroes put in long hours to build software, fix issues, field questions, and manage communities.
The ReadME Project is part of GitHub’s ongoing effort to amplify the voices of the developer community. It’s an evolving space to engage with the community and explore the stories, challenges, technology, and culture that surround the world of open source.
Nominate a developer
Nominate inspiring developers and projects you think we should feature in The ReadME Project.
Support the community
Recognize developers working behind the scenes and help open source projects get the resources they need.