Software engineers are running a race. Not a literal one, but one that is just as challenging. It’s a race to keep themselves and the companies and organizations they work for productive, updated and relevant. It’s a race against output deadlines; a race to reach productivity goals; and a race to keep up with constantly changing technology and other developments.
So suggesting that they spend more time contributing to open source projects? The idea just seems counterproductive. Why would you want engineers spending precious time on other projects?
Turns out, there’s more than a couple of good reasons why.
Community Building
At first glance it may seem like a black hole for time and resources, but participating in open source delivers benefits to a company that really can’t be found anywhere else. Central to this is the community around open source projects. When engineers contribute to these projects they become part of a community and forge invaluable partnerships with other companies. These connections help keep engineers updated on the latest technologies relevant to the community and their own projects. It also gives them some amount of influence on the direction of certain open source projects.
Keeps Engineers at the Top of Their Game
Connections and open source experience are crucial when it comes to building one’s career as an engineer, especially in today’s world where connectivity and open source have become ubiquitous. Open source experience expands their skills and knowledge, which are then applied to their own work, thus providing benefits for all.
Open source projects have a way of making good engineers even better, because it promotes best coding practices and provides a safe place for them to improve their craft. They are able to iterate and improve code, review code and gain useful feedback that helps them write even better code.
Working on open source projects also gives engineers a break of sorts from their usual routines. Looking at other projects gives them fresh eyes when going back to their own projects. Tackling and overcoming new challenges recharges them, encourages them to be more productive with their own projects, and allows them to learn new and innovative techniques.
Attracts Top Talent
Last but not least, allowing engineers to work on open source projects establishes a company culture that is highly attractive to a lot of other talented engineers. Organizations that participate in open source are often more capable and aware of bleeding edge technologies, and as such encourage more innovation. They are also better aligned with the needs of the community. These are qualities that make a company a top choice for potential employees. Not only that, allowing engineers to work on open source projects empowers engineers and keeps them engaged and excited about their work, which attracts them all the more to your company.
Contributing to open source offers many great opportunities and advantages not just for engineers but for the companies they work for. With open source playing such a significant role today and no doubt in the future, such contributions can really drive progress in the tech world. By allowing engineers more time and resources to work on open source projects, we’re playing a part in building better tech and a better future for all software companies and communities.