Approachable Open Source
This book's been writing itself in my head for over 15 years. I finally started listening.approachable open source
Approachable Open Source
APPROACHABLE
OPEN SOURCE
It's worth repeating! The 📀 "gold copy" of my book is off to the printer! That was my internal milestone to finally announce the title to the world. I'm looking at the well-worn proof right now.
🆕 Preorder at $27 for a paperback and digital bundle!
Approachable Open Source is a perennial, full-spectrum primer on the open source software landscape. Discover the broad connections between you, your team, your company, and your community. Learn how to approach and enable impactful, equitable, and attainable outcomes.
This book is for the curious, the busy, or the eager technologist that wants to level up their relationship with open source software. That might be you! You use open source software today at work or at school, and I promise your talent and perspective, intentionally channeled, is the latent energy many communities need.
Perfect for:
| role | takeaway |
|---|---|
| 🎓 students | Understand the history, context, and potential of open source software. |
| ⌨️ developers | Engage upstream across a full-spectrum of activities |
| 🔧 maintainers | Level up your repo with purpose. Create self-sustaining community. Avoid burn-out. |
| 💼 enterprise | Start, and scale. Secure open source dependencies and understand legal risks. Unlock your teams' future. |
It's been quite the journey to get here. What started as a lark to A Book Apart become dream deferred with their recent closure. Luckily, they'd invested three rounds of edits into the manuscript, helping it become what it is today. I'm so grateful for their support and guidance, even if it didn't work out.
The process has pushed me to deeply introspect what values matter most to me. It's challenged long-held or shallow assumptions. I've confronted the inadequacies of the past, my own blindspots, and resolved paradoxes I didn't even know I had. What remains, I hope, is a true signal of intent.
I've written this book as a new entry in the compendium of open source thought. I don't fancy myself a thought-leader and for that we are all fortunate. But it is informed by years of success and failure working with open source software. The advice is honest; the vision bold; the mandate modest.
So, if you can find a means to support this, I'd appreciate it.
- Preorder the paperback/digital bundle
- Sign up for future updates as the book releases
- Visit approachableopensource.com regularly
- Spread the word on social media or to your colleagues
- Invite me to speak at your event, podcast, or company
- Tell your boss to buy a few copies for the team
If you need to wait, no worry. I'll be open sourcing more and more of the content as time passes, but for now I'm focused on releasing this into the world and recouping some of the cost.