What It's Like To Be A Full Time Open Source Developer

Explore the life of a full-time open source developer in this 44-minute conference talk from JSWORLD Conference. Gain insights into the challenges and rewards of dedicating oneself to open source projects, with a focus on Vue.js creator Evan You's experiences. Discover the motivations behind going full-time, including freedom, impact, and fulfillment. Learn about the mental challenges faced, such as fear, uncertainty, doubt, and self-imposed guilt. Understand how to manage the responsibilities that come with maintaining a popular open source project, including handling user feedback, pull requests, and feature requests. Get practical tips on maintaining work-life balance, dealing with publicity and pressure, and prioritizing tasks effectively. Delve into strategies for coping with criticism and negativity while staying focused on project goals. Leave with valuable insights on how to thrive as an open source developer and maintain a healthy relationship with your work and community.

Intro
Why Did I Go Full-time?
Freedom!
Impact & Fulfillment
Fame (not quite)
Freedom vs. Risk
Mental Challenge 1: Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt
How I try to deal with it: Understand what you are really looking for
Impact vs. Responsibility
Outside your door stands a line of a few hundred people. They are patiently waiting for you to answer their questions, complaints, pull requests, and feature requests.
Vue receives around 150 issues per month in the core repo alone. We are going to reach #10000 by mid 2019.
Mental Challenge 2: Self-imposed Guilt
Guilt can lead to deteriorating work-life balance and eventually lead to burnout.
Acknowledge the boundary
People vs. The Social Overhead
Publicity & Pressure
Know your priorities
Criticism & Negativity
Some tips
Don't burden yourself with things that do not really matter
Establish and enforce clear policies and processes
Trust and delegate
Turn off notifications Pull instead of Push!
Get the priorities straight
Enjoy it