Google I/O 2008 - Open Source Projects and Poisonous People

How Open Source Projects Survive Poisonous People
Brian Fitzpatrick and Ben Collins-Sussman (Google)

Every project runs into people who are selfish, uncooperative, and disrespectful. These people can silently poison the atmosphere of a happy developer community. Come learn how to identify these people and peacefully de-fuse them before they derail your project. Told through a series of (often amusing) real-life anecdotes and experiences.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Google
• I/O
• IO2008
• Open
• Source
• gcvio052008
• plid6D9B701069B4F2F4

[samiiwieciekto]

Speaking as female developer - I really think watching this video should be necessary to everyone who starts complaining about our work or comes with some brilliant ideas. Etiquette isn't popular nowadays.

On my side - it made me rethink my community communication strategy: knowing there are traps, and knowing how to avoid-repeal them is surely a difference: and this video surely give me a hint on that field.

[ljoy200]

Very useful talk.

Much of this is similar to good project management where communication and feedback are good mantras. Behaviours can be changed with mentoring and although this requires some initial energy the payback can be much greater. 43 mins into the talk reminded me of the Monty Python Argument Sketch. A good difusing tactic is to take 5 deep breathes before responding to an inflamatory email or comment. The null response is then easier to come by.

[superfunny1972]

they have posted 999 videos lol

[VondaFoni]

Those People are really poisonous arent they.

[pdp7pdp7]

yay - chicago represent! awesome talk

[GregSidelnikov]

Ben Collins-Sussman looks like the retarded twin brother Stanley Kubrick never had.

[kevingo75]

Nice Talk, Thanks.

[PwakMan]

a little lack of self criticism of am I wrong ?

[trr12]

Ben, At some point you say "...just like a corporation"...well, don't you think that corporations will go through many processes where they learn and change things all the time? your statement seems to imply that a corporation is "bad", whilst you yourself acknowledge that sometimes some ways of doing things will be the same as in the corporations. In the end, its about human groups trying to do things together, not about the "evilness" of corporations...