In this post, I would like to reflect on my OSSD class — the reason I’ve been updating this blog — and how it has changed my relationship with software development and computer science overall.

Takeaways from OSSD

My key takeaways from this class are :

• Do not be scared of contributing to big projects and the people who maintain them
• Build connections with teammates and fellow contributors and help them out when you can, not because you get any tangible benefit from that but because it’s just what you do as a FOSS developer
• Be ready to admit that you don’t know something
• Working with software is interesting and rewarding

This class has become so special to me over the past couple of months because it is unlike anything I’ve taken in the NYU computer science program. It encourages so much critical thinking, especially during the final project and the discussions. When you settle on your final project, it is important to analyze it critically and really-really think through whether it is a good fit for long-term contributions. It requires you to familiarize yourself with the world of open source, to dive deep into how these projects are maintained, and I think I have mastered this skill and learned so many tools and resources in that field. The discussions have helped me make sense of the software industry as a whole, not just its open source section, and Mattermost has allowed me to feel like a real developer even if I only contributed a few things.

Overall, it has been such a rewarding experience and so different from even the other “hands-on” classes at NYU, because it is in the course description to make actual changes to real projects. Individually, I contributed to Graphhopper and connected with its BDFL, which was so easy I’m still shocked that happened.

Another shocking thing for me was my classmates and teammates… They are some of the most interesting people I’ve met in the CS major, and because of the nature of the class, I got to talk to so many of them, even if we didn’t become friends. I felt an atmosphere of mutual respect during the final presentations, where (almost) everyone engaged with the presenters, laughed at their jokes and showed genuine interest during Q&A. Lots of love to them!!

I can recommend this class not just to those interested in OSSD but those who want to experience issues being assigned to them, professionals asking genuine questions and demanding quality code/documentation from them, PRs being merged, and even just reading/watching/writing about tech with an OSSD angle.