Sustain

Guest Richard J. Acton Panelist Richard Littauer Show Notes In this episode of Sustain, host Richard Littauer speaks with Richard J. Acton, a research data outputs manager at the Human Developmental Biology Initiative based near Cambridge. He discusses his involvement with open source software through bioinformatics and his development of a comprehensive checklist for researchers producing code. This checklist aims to guide researchers in making their software outputs more citable, reproducible, and user-friendly. The conversation delves into various themes covered by the checklist, such as source control, licensing, documentation, testing, and governance. He also shares his insights on the importance of open science and transparent research practices, the challenges of balancing open source work with academic demands, and the potential role of funders and publishers in supporting these efforts. Press download more to hear more! [00:00:43] Richard Acton explains his job at the Human Developmental Biology Initiative and how the checklist started. [00:01:23] He transitioned into open source via bioinformatics and Linux and advocates for open science and reproducibility in software. [00:02:26] We learn why the checklist was created and the design and structure of the checklist. [00:05:46] Richard Acton talks about lack and time and incentives prevent open sourcing and the how the checklist makes code more citable and boost academic recognition. [00:09:17] There’s a discussion on the trade-off between citing a paper vs. citing the code. [00:12:05] The tier system is mentioned and Richard Acton explains how the checklist encourages progression from bronze to platinum and goes over the key areas in the checklist categories. [00:14:21] Governance and community is discussed with Richard Acton explaining that governance also includes continuity and community management is addressed especially for reusable pipelines. [00:16:29] We hear about the three categories for research code: one-off code, web-based services, and reusable packages and how the definitions were tailored for the checklist. [00:17:23] Richard Acton presented the checklist at the SSI workshop and he’s seeking contributors, reviewers, and testers. [00:19:18] Richard Action advocates for publishers to enforce code quality and universities and funders can hire staff to ease researcher workload, and he speaks about transparency and quality assurance. [00:24:59] Implementation and badging is discussed and he shares the grading is currently designed for self-assessment, but open to expert review in the future. [00:26:33] Richard Acton is open to collaborating with CHAOSS and he aims to grow the project into a broader community standard. [00:27:23] Find out where you can follow Richard Acton and his work on the web. Quotes [00:02:13] “Software being an integral part of modern research means that it needs to be open in order to be reproducible effectively.” Spotlight [00:27:58] Richard’s spotlight is attending the Birds New Zealand annual conf. [00:28:55] Richard Acton’s spotlight is ‘rix: Reproducible Environments with Nix.’ Links podcast@sustainoss.org (mailto:podcast@sustainoss.org) richard@sustainoss.org (mailto:richard@sustainoss.org) SustainOSS Discourse (https://discourse.sustainoss.org/) SustainOSS Mastodon (https://mastodon.social/tags/sustainoss) SustainOSS Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/sustainoss.bsky.social) SustainOSS LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/sustainoss/) Open Collective-SustainOSS (Contribute) (https://opencollective.com/sustainoss) Richard Littauer Socials (https://www.burntfen.com/2023-05-30/socials) Richard J. Acton Website (https://richardjacton.net/) Richard J. Acton Mastodon (https://fosstodon.org/@RichardJActon) Research Software Sharing, Publication, & Distribution Checklists (https://rsspdc.org/) Birds New Zealand (https://www.birdsnz.org.nz/) rix: Reproducible Environments with Nix (https://github.com/ropensci/rix/) Credits Produced by Richard Littauer (https://www.burntfen.com/) Edited by Paul M. Bahr at Peachtree Sound (https://www.peachtreesound.com/) Show notes by DeAnn Bahr Peachtree Sound (https://www.peachtreesound.com/) Special Guest: Richard J. Acton.

Guest Richard J. Acton Panelist Richard Littauer Show Notes In this episode of Sustain, host Richard Littauer speaks with Richard J. Acton, a research data outputs manager at the Human Developmental Biology Initiative based near Cambridge. He discusses his involvement with open source software through bioinformatics and his development of a comprehensive checklist for researchers producing code. This checklist aims to guide researchers in making their software outputs more citable, reproducible, and user-friendly. The conversation delves into various themes covered by the checklist, such as source control, licensing, documentation, testing, and governance. He also shares his insights on the importance of open science and transparent research practices, the challenges of balancing open source work with academic demands, and the potential role of funders and publishers in supporting these efforts. Press download more to hear more! [00:00:43] Richard Acton explains his job at the Human Developmental Biology Initiative and how the checklist started. [00:01:23] He transitioned into open source via bioinformatics and Linux and advocates for open science and reproducibility in software. [00:02:26] We learn why the checklist was created and the design and structure of the checklist. [00:05:46] Richard Acton talks about lack and time and incentives prevent open sourcing and the how the checklist makes code more citable and boost academic recognition. [00:09:17] There’s a discussion on the trade-off between citing a paper vs. citing the code. [00:12:05] The tier system is mentioned and Richard Acton explains how the checklist encourages progression from bronze to platinum and goes over the key areas in the checklist categories. [00:14:21] Governance and community is discussed with Richard Acton explaining that governance also includes continuity and community management is addressed especially for reusable pipelines. [00:16:29] We hear about the three categories for research code: one-off code, web-based services, and reusable packages and how the definitions were tailored for the checklist. [00:17:23] Richard Acton presented the checklist at the SSI workshop and he’s seeking contributors, reviewers, and testers. [00:19:18] Richard Action advocates for publishers to enforce code quality and universities and funders can hire staff to ease researcher workload, and he speaks about transparency and quality assurance. [00:24:59] Implementation and badging is discussed and he shares the grading is currently designed for self-assessment, but open to expert review in the future. [00:26:33] Richard Acton is open to collaborating with CHAOSS and he aims to grow the project into a broader community standard. [00:27:23] Find out where you can follow Richard Acton and his work on the web. Quotes [00:02:13] “Software being an integral part of modern research means that it needs to be open in order to be reproducible effectively.” Spotlight [00:27:58] Richard’s spotlight is attending the Birds New Zealand annual conf. [00:28:55] Richard Acton’s spotlight is ‘rix: Reproducible Environments with Nix.’ Links podcast@sustainoss.org (mailto:podcast@sustainoss.org) richard@sustainoss.org (mailto:richard@sustainoss.org) SustainOSS Discourse (https://discourse.sustainoss.org/) SustainOSS Mastodon (https://mastodon.social/tags/sustainoss) SustainOSS Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/sustainoss.bsky.social) SustainOSS LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/sustainoss/) Open Collective-SustainOSS (Contribute) (https://opencollective.com/sustainoss) Richard Littauer Socials (https://www.burntfen.com/2023-05-30/socials) Richard J. Acton Website (https://richardjacton.net/) Richard J. Acton Mastodon (https://fosstodon.org/@RichardJActon) Research Software Sharing, Publication, & Distribution Checklists (https://rsspdc.org/) Birds New Zealand (https://www.birdsnz.org.nz/) rix: Reproducible Environments with Nix (https://github.com/ropensci/rix/) Credits Produced by Richard Littauer (https://www.burntfen.com/) Edited by Paul M. Bahr at Peachtree Sound (https://www.peachtreesound.com/) Show notes by DeAnn Bahr Peachtree Sound (https://www.peachtreesound.com/) Special Guest: Richard J. Acton.

Guest Qianqian Ye Panelist Richard Littauer Show Notes In this episode of Sustain, Richard hosts a conversation with Qianqian “Q” Ye, an artist, creative technologist, and educator who recently led the p5.js project, an open-source JavaScript library designed to prioritize accessibility and diversity in learning to code. Q shares her journey from an architectural background to contributing and eventually leading p5.js, a library created by artists for artists with a strong focus on visual feedback and accessibility. They discuss the importance of decentralizing leadership, setting boundaries to avoid burnout, and empowering contributors to ensure the project's sustainability. Key topics include the role of care work in open source, the community-driven evolution of p5.js, and strategies for maintaining a collaborative and inclusive environment. Q also highlights the significance of providing clear documentation and recognizing all forms of contributions to foster a welcoming community. Press download now to hear more! [00:001:01] Q explains what p5.js is and how it teaches people to code. [00:02:11] Q shares her journey from former architect turned creative technologist and highlights her community progression through translation and outreach. [00:04:19] Why is p5.js different? Q emphasizes the output is art, not code, making it more inclusive and intuitive for beginners. [00:05:40] Richard inquires about the p5.js community and contributors and Q tells us there are 700-800 contributors officially recognized. [00:06:33] Q elaborates on the relationship with the Processing Foundation. P5.js operates semi-independently under its support, and she talks about the staff size for p5.js. [00:07:49] Q believes the traditional open source volunteerism is problematic and the Sovereign Tech Agency provided funding to support mentors and contributors. [00:09:19] Q’s essay “Care Work in OSS” explores the invisible labor behind software projects and advocates for recognizing emotional labor and decentralized decision making. [00:10:15] We hear about the rotating leadership and inclusivity and how documentation and mentorship is the key to smooth transitions. [00:13:18] Q talks about the translation stewardship with a decentralized structure with language-specific stewards and using inclusive onboarding and translations. [00:15:31] Richard questions preventing burnout in stewards and Q elaborates how p5.js handles this and why access includes joy and inclusivity. [00:18:05] We hear how decisions about feature acceptance are made through community review and discussions, as well as how some users challenged the access-first policy. [00:20:15] Balancing art and community is discussed here as Q clarifies that open source and the arts often conflict due to individualism vs. collectivism. [00:21:48] How does Q help the open source community learn and give credit to other people well all the time? She gives routine shoutouts in release notes, social media, and seeks to credit all contributions, not just code. [00:24:48] Q shares how she deals with emotional burnout and boundaries and tips for setting boundaries. [00:28:18] What’s next for Q? She’s returning from maternity leave as Manager of Community and Partnerships for the Processing Foundation, and focus on building relationships and discussing sustainable funding at UN Open Source Week. [00:29:32] Find out where you can follow Q and p5.js on the web. Quotes [00:08:00] “I strongly believe that the volunteer-based model in open source is very problematic, and I’ve been trying to experiment different ways on doing thing alternatively.” [00:09:55] “OSS appears faceless, but there are so many people behind OSS.” [00:11:17] “Creators and maintainers of OSS carry bias of their own when they maintain the software.” [00:16:20] “Having to say no helped us to clarify the vision for the p5.js project.” Spotlight [00:30:01] Richard’s spotlight is the book, Things Become Other Things by Craig Mod [00:30:50] Q’s spotlight is two contributors, Dave Pagurek and Kenneth Lim. Links SustainOSS (https://sustainoss.org/) podcast@sustainoss.org (mailto:podcast@sustainoss.org) richard@sustainoss.org (mailto:richard@sustainoss.org) SustainOSS Discourse (https://discourse.sustainoss.org/) SustainOSS Mastodon (https://mastodon.social/tags/sustainoss) SustainOSS Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/sustainoss.bsky.social) SustainOSS LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/sustainoss/) Open Collective-SustainOSS (Contribute) (https://opencollective.com/sustainoss) Richard Littauer Socials (https://www.burntfen.com/2023-05-30/socials) Qianqian Ye LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/qianqian-ye-23693364/) Qianqian Ye Website (https://qianqian-ye.com/) p5.js (https://p5js.org/) p5.js Access Statement (https://p5js.org/contribute/access/) All Contributors (https://allcontributors.org/) Processing Foundation (https://processingfoundation.org/) Sovereign Tech Agency (https://www.sovereign.tech/) Lauren Lee McCarthy (https://get-lauren.net/) Making p5.js by Lauren Lee McCarthy (https://medium.com/processing-foundation/making-p5-js-fd293ba91a32) UN Open Source Week 2025, NYC, June 16-20 (https://www.un.org/digital-emerging-technologies/content/open-source-week-2025) Things Become Other Things by Craig Mod (https://craigmod.com/ridgeline/174/) P5.js 2.0 and an open source philosophy by Dave Pagurek (https://www.davepagurek.com/blog/p5-2.0-philosophy/) Designing an addon library system for p5.js 2.0 by Kenneth Lim (https://dev.to/limzykenneth/designing-an-addon-library-system-for-p5js-20-3d4p) Credits Produced by Richard Littauer (https://www.burntfen.com/) Edited by Paul M. Bahr at Peachtree Sound (https://www.peachtreesound.com/) Show notes by DeAnn Bahr Peachtree Sound (https://www.peachtreesound.com/) Special Guest: Qianqian Ye.

Guest Qianqian Ye Panelist Richard Littauer Show Notes In this episode of Sustain, Richard hosts a conversation with Qianqian “Q” Ye, an artist, creative technologist, and educator who recently led the p5.js project, an open-source JavaScript library designed to prioritize accessibility and diversity in learning to code. Q shares her journey from an architectural background to contributing and eventually leading p5.js, a library created by artists for artists with a strong focus on visual feedback and accessibility. They discuss the importance of decentralizing leadership, setting boundaries to avoid burnout, and empowering contributors to ensure the project's sustainability. Key topics include the role of care work in open source, the community-driven evolution of p5.js, and strategies for maintaining a collaborative and inclusive environment. Q also highlights the significance of providing clear documentation and recognizing all forms of contributions to foster a welcoming community. Press download now to hear more! [00:001:01] Q explains what p5.js is and how it teaches people to code. [00:02:11] Q shares her journey from former architect turned creative technologist and highlights her community progression through translation and outreach. [00:04:19] Why is p5.js different? Q emphasizes the output is art, not code, making it more inclusive and intuitive for beginners. [00:05:40] Richard inquires about the p5.js community and contributors and Q tells us there are 700-800 contributors officially recognized. [00:06:33] Q elaborates on the relationship with the Processing Foundation. P5.js operates semi-independently under its support, and she talks about the staff size for p5.js. [00:07:49] Q believes the traditional open source volunteerism is problematic and the Sovereign Tech Agency provided funding to support mentors and contributors. [00:09:19] Q’s essay “Care Work in OSS” explores the invisible labor behind software projects and advocates for recognizing emotional labor and decentralized decision making. [00:10:15] We hear about the rotating leadership and inclusivity and how documentation and mentorship is the key to smooth transitions. [00:13:18] Q talks about the translation stewardship with a decentralized structure with language-specific stewards and using inclusive onboarding and translations. [00:15:31] Richard questions preventing burnout in stewards and Q elaborates how p5.js handles this and why access includes joy and inclusivity. [00:18:05] We hear how decisions about feature acceptance are made through community review and discussions, as well as how some users challenged the access-first policy. [00:20:15] Balancing art and community is discussed here as Q clarifies that open source and the arts often conflict due to individualism vs. collectivism. [00:21:48] How does Q help the open source community learn and give credit to other people well all the time? She gives routine shoutouts in release notes, social media, and seeks to credit all contributions, not just code. [00:24:48] Q shares how she deals with emotional burnout and boundaries and tips for setting boundaries. [00:28:18] What’s next for Q? She’s returning from maternity leave as Manager of Community and Partnerships for the Processing Foundation, and focus on building relationships and discussing sustainable funding at UN Open Source Week. [00:29:32] Find out where you can follow Q and p5.js on the web. Quotes [00:08:00] “I strongly believe that the volunteer-based model in open source is very problematic, and I’ve been trying to experiment different ways on doing thing alternatively.” [00:09:55] “OSS appears faceless, but there are so many people behind OSS.” [00:11:17] “Creators and maintainers of OSS carry bias of their own when they maintain the software.” [00:16:20] “Having to say no helped us to clarify the vision for the p5.js project.” Spotlight [00:30:01] Richard’s spotlight is the book, Things Become Other Things by Craig Mod [00:30:50] Q’s spotlight is two contributors, Dave Pagurek and Kenneth Lim. Links SustainOSS (https://sustainoss.org/) podcast@sustainoss.org (mailto:podcast@sustainoss.org) richard@sustainoss.org (mailto:richard@sustainoss.org) SustainOSS Discourse (https://discourse.sustainoss.org/) SustainOSS Mastodon (https://mastodon.social/tags/sustainoss) SustainOSS Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/sustainoss.bsky.social) SustainOSS LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/sustainoss/) Open Collective-SustainOSS (Contribute) (https://opencollective.com/sustainoss) Richard Littauer Socials (https://www.burntfen.com/2023-05-30/socials) Qianqian Ye LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/qianqian-ye-23693364/) Qianqian Ye Website (https://qianqian-ye.com/) p5.js (https://p5js.org/) p5.js Access Statement (https://p5js.org/contribute/access/) All Contributors (https://allcontributors.org/) Processing Foundation (https://processingfoundation.org/) Sovereign Tech Agency (https://www.sovereign.tech/) Lauren Lee McCarthy (https://get-lauren.net/) Making p5.js by Lauren Lee McCarthy (https://medium.com/processing-foundation/making-p5-js-fd293ba91a32) UN Open Source Week 2025, NYC, June 16-20 (https://www.un.org/digital-emerging-technologies/content/open-source-week-2025) Things Become Other Things by Craig Mod (https://craigmod.com/ridgeline/174/) P5.js 2.0 and an open source philosophy by Dave Pagurek (https://www.davepagurek.com/blog/p5-2.0-philosophy/) Designing an addon library system for p5.js 2.0 by Kenneth Lim (https://dev.to/limzykenneth/designing-an-addon-library-system-for-p5js-20-3d4p) Credits Produced by Richard Littauer (https://www.burntfen.com/) Edited by Paul M. Bahr at Peachtree Sound (https://www.peachtreesound.com/) Show notes by DeAnn Bahr Peachtree Sound (https://www.peachtreesound.com/) Special Guest: Qianqian Ye.

Guest Federico Mena Quintero Panelist Richard Littauer Show Notes In this special Maintainer Month episode of Sustain, host Richard Littauer chats with Federico Mena Quintero, a foundational GNOME hacker and board member. Federico shares his journey from learning image processing in high school, becoming a key contributor to the GIMP project, and founding the GNOME desktop environment. He discusses the historical context, challenges, and achievements of GNOME and open source development. The conversation delves into the importance of maintaining infrastructural software, adapting to new technologies like the Rust programming language, and the socio-economic factors influencing the open source community's demographics. Press download now to hear more! [00:01:29] Federico describes GNOME as the “surface of your desk”- the visual and interactive layer of the Linux desktop. [00:02:16] Federico started writing image processing programs in high school and discovered GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) and began contributing plugins. Encouraged by positive feedback, he continued developing filters and building community resources. [00:10:20] The proprietary Motif GUI toolkit used by GIMP prompted the creation of GTK (GIMP Toolkit), a free alternative. GTK was split from GIMP and became a foundation for GNOME. Miguel de Icaza learned about modular component design from Microsoft and brought those ideas to the GNOME team. [00:14:48] Federico explains KDE was already launched but used the non-free Qt toolkit and GNOME was created as a fully free alternative using GTK. [00:17:58] They discuss GNOME’s long-term success which has thousands of contributors and institutional backing from its foundation. [00:21:06] Federico reflects on his privilege. He never had to apply for his first job because he was recruited and recognizes the barriers to entry for underrepresented communities. [00:24:32] The conversation turns to global south and diversity. Federico discusses the limitations on who can participate in open source due to time, money, and societal roles, and notes that women and people outside the Global North often face greater barriers. [00:30:37] Richard inquires what Federico means by “maintaining infrastructure.” He explains that open source today is less about new features and more about keeping infrastructure working. [00:32:59] Federico talks about a recent project to replace a vital but abandoned infrastructure component and emphasizes the need for sustainable maintenance strategies. [00:36:25] Federico became maintainer of Librsvg image rendering library from C to Rust. [00:40:00] Find out where you can follow Federico on the web. Quotes [00:31:10] “Software doesn’t rot, but the environment around it changes.” Spotlight [00:40:57] Richard’s spotlight is the book, 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus. [00:41:49] Federico’s spotlight is two books: Malintzin’s Choices and James. Links SustainOSS (https://sustainoss.org/) podcast@sustainoss.org (mailto:podcast@sustainoss.org) richard@sustainoss.org (mailto:richard@sustainoss.org) SustainOSS Discourse (https://discourse.sustainoss.org/) SustainOSS Mastodon (https://mastodon.social/tags/sustainoss) SustainOSS Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/sustainoss.bsky.social) SustainOSS LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/sustainoss/) Open Collective-SustainOSS (Contribute) (https://opencollective.com/sustainoss) Richard Littauer Socials (https://www.burntfen.com/2023-05-30/socials) Federico Mena Quintero Blog (https://viruta.org/) Federico Mena Quintero Mastodon (https://mastodon.social/@federicomena@mstdn.mx) GNOME (https://www.gnome.org/) GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) (https://www.gimp.org/) GTK (https://www.gtk.org/) Librsvg (https://github.com/GNOME/librsvg) 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1491%3A_New_Revelations_of_the_Americas_Before_Columbus) La Malinche (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Malinche) Malintzin’s Choices by Camila Townsend (https://archive.org/details/malintzinschoice0000town) James by Percival Everett (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_(novel)) Credits Produced by Richard Littauer (https://www.burntfen.com/) Edited by Paul M. Bahr at Peachtree Sound (https://www.peachtreesound.com/) Show notes by DeAnn Bahr Peachtree Sound (https://www.peachtreesound.com/) Special Guest: Federico Mena Quintero.

Guest Federico Mena Quintero Panelist Richard Littauer Show Notes In this special Maintainer Month episode of Sustain, host Richard Littauer chats with Federico Mena Quintero, a foundational GNOME hacker and board member. Federico shares his journey from learning image processing in high school, becoming a key contributor to the GIMP project, and founding the GNOME desktop environment. He discusses the historical context, challenges, and achievements of GNOME and open source development. The conversation delves into the importance of maintaining infrastructural software, adapting to new technologies like the Rust programming language, and the socio-economic factors influencing the open source community's demographics. Press download now to hear more! [00:01:29] Federico describes GNOME as the “surface of your desk”- the visual and interactive layer of the Linux desktop. [00:02:16] Federico started writing image processing programs in high school and discovered GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) and began contributing plugins. Encouraged by positive feedback, he continued developing filters and building community resources. [00:10:20] The proprietary Motif GUI toolkit used by GIMP prompted the creation of GTK (GIMP Toolkit), a free alternative. GTK was split from GIMP and became a foundation for GNOME. Miguel de Icaza learned about modular component design from Microsoft and brought those ideas to the GNOME team. [00:14:48] Federico explains KDE was already launched but used the non-free Qt toolkit and GNOME was created as a fully free alternative using GTK. [00:17:58] They discuss GNOME’s long-term success which has thousands of contributors and institutional backing from its foundation. [00:21:06] Federico reflects on his privilege. He never had to apply for his first job because he was recruited and recognizes the barriers to entry for underrepresented communities. [00:24:32] The conversation turns to global south and diversity. Federico discusses the limitations on who can participate in open source due to time, money, and societal roles, and notes that women and people outside the Global North often face greater barriers. [00:30:37] Richard inquires what Federico means by “maintaining infrastructure.” He explains that open source today is less about new features and more about keeping infrastructure working. [00:32:59] Federico talks about a recent project to replace a vital but abandoned infrastructure component and emphasizes the need for sustainable maintenance strategies. [00:36:25] Federico became maintainer of Librsvg image rendering library from C to Rust. [00:40:00] Find out where you can follow Federico on the web. Quotes [00:31:10] “Software doesn’t rot, but the environment around it changes.” Spotlight [00:40:57] Richard’s spotlight is the book, 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus. [00:41:49] Federico’s spotlight is two books: Malintzin’s Choices and James. Links SustainOSS (https://sustainoss.org/) podcast@sustainoss.org (mailto:podcast@sustainoss.org) richard@sustainoss.org (mailto:richard@sustainoss.org) SustainOSS Discourse (https://discourse.sustainoss.org/) SustainOSS Mastodon (https://mastodon.social/tags/sustainoss) SustainOSS Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/sustainoss.bsky.social) SustainOSS LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/sustainoss/) Open Collective-SustainOSS (Contribute) (https://opencollective.com/sustainoss) Richard Littauer Socials (https://www.burntfen.com/2023-05-30/socials) Federico Mena Quintero Blog (https://viruta.org/) Federico Mena Quintero Mastodon (https://mastodon.social/@federicomena@mstdn.mx) GNOME (https://www.gnome.org/) GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) (https://www.gimp.org/) GTK (https://www.gtk.org/) Librsvg (https://github.com/GNOME/librsvg) 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1491%3A_New_Revelations_of_the_Americas_Before_Columbus) La Malinche (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Malinche) Malintzin’s Choices by Camila Townsend (https://archive.org/details/malintzinschoice0000town) James by Percival Everett (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_(novel)) Credits Produced by Richard Littauer (https://www.burntfen.com/) Edited by Paul M. Bahr at Peachtree Sound (https://www.peachtreesound.com/) Show notes by DeAnn Bahr Peachtree Sound (https://www.peachtreesound.com/) Special Guest: Federico Mena Quintero.

Guest Sarah Rainsberger Panelists Richard Littauer | Abby Mayes | Eriol Fox Show Notes In this special Maintainer Month episode of Sustain, hosts Richard, Abby, and Eriol talk with guest, Sarah Rainsberger, a documentation lead at Astro, who shares her journey from teaching high school mathematics to becoming an open source contributor. Sarah elaborates on her approach to documentation, emphasizing the importance of clear, supportive, and inclusive communication to onboard new contributors effectively. She also discusses using low-tech tools like Chromebooks and cloud-based editors for open source contributions. The episode highlights the strategies employed by the Astro Docs team to recognize and value contributions. Press download now to hear more! [00:02:30] Sarah shares her background, role at Astro, how she got involved in documentation that started by fixing a bad choir website, and why she chose Astro over Gatsby and quickly became a key contributor. [00:06:49] She reflects on the moment she connected her work with the concept of “open source.” [00:07:54] Sarah talks about becoming a leader using Chromebook, taking lessons on Scrimba, and using cloud tools like CodeSandbox and Gitpod, the Astro community embracing her methods, and how she built a reputation as someone making meaningful contributions regardless of hardware. [00:14:24] Sarah explains how docs are “self-serve support” and essential to project success. [00:16:28] The conversation turns to combatting the stigma that docs are low value and Sarah addresses the false perception that documentation isn’t real development. [00:18:28] Sarah shares that Astro has over 1,000 docs contributors and details their intentional process of welcoming, crediting, and celebrating new contributors. [00:24:37] How does Astro handle lower-quality contributions? Astro uses the motto: “Not worse than what we had before.” They edit or mentor rather than reject, to build confidence and retain contributors. [00:29:12] Astro maintains a separate documentation site (“D Squared”) that outlines its processes for contributing to documentation. [00:33:25] Sarah shares where to find her work at the Astro Docs and where to find her. Quotes [00:05:26] “If I’m going in, let’s go all in.” [00:12:50] “I have chosen to maintain low tech.” [00:12:59] “I am known for my evil devices.” [00:14:36] “Docs are so important to a project that you want someone else to use or contribute to.” [00:15:28] “Docs is the most scalable type of support that you can have.” [00:16:37] “Everyone complains about docs until it’s someone else’s project.” [00:26:51] “PRs don’t just fall out of the sky; they are effort, and they are work.” [00:27:05] “There is some motivation behind this PR.” [00:31:41] “Several of our maintainers started by translating the docs.” [00:31:49] “If you want to find mistakes in your English docs, you want translators.” Spotlight [00:34:40] Abby’s’ spotlight is CommunityRule. [00:35:04] Eriol’s spotlight is State of Docs. [00:35:19] Richard’s spotlight is Nathan Schneider and the Protocol Oral History Project. [00:36:08] Sarah’s spotlight is Better GitHub Co-Authors. Links SustainOSS (https://sustainoss.org/) podcast@sustainoss.org (mailto:podcast@sustainoss.org) richard@sustainoss.org (mailto:richard@sustainoss.org) SustainOSS Discourse (https://discourse.sustainoss.org/) SustainOSS Mastodon (https://mastodon.social/tags/sustainoss) SustainOSS Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/sustainoss.bsky.social) SustainOSS LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/sustainoss/) Open Collective-SustainOSS (Contribute) (https://opencollective.com/sustainoss) Richard Littauer Socials (https://www.burntfen.com/2023-05-30/socials) Abby Cabunoc Mayes GitHub (https://abbycabs.github.io/) Eriol Fox GitHub (https://erioldoesdesign.github.io/) Sarah Rainsberger Website (https://www.rainsberger.ca/) Sarah Rainsberger Mastodon (https://mastodon.social/@sarah11918) Non-code contributions are the secret to open source success (The ReadME Project) (https://github.com/readme/featured/open-source-non-code-contributions) Astro (https://astro.build/) Astro Docs (https://docs.astro.build/en/getting-started/) Contribute to Astro (https://docs.astro.build/en/contribute/) Gitpod (https://www.gitpod.io/) Scrimba (https://scrimba.com/home) Hugo Server (https://gohugo.io/commands/hugo_server/) CommunityRule (https://communityrule.info/) State of Docs (https://www.stateofdocs.com/2025/introduction-basic-stats) Better GitHub Co-Authors (https://github.com/delucis/better-github-coauthors) Sustain Podcast-Episode 85: Geoffrey Huntley and Sustaining OSS with Gitpod (https://podcast.sustainoss.org/85) Sustain Podcast- 2 episodes featuring Nathan Schneider (https://podcast.sustainoss.org/guests/nathan-schneider) Credits Produced by Richard Littauer (https://www.burntfen.com/) Edited by Paul M. Bahr at Peachtree Sound (https://www.peachtreesound.com/) Show notes by DeAnn Bahr Peachtree Sound (https://www.peachtreesound.com/) Special Guest: Sarah Rainsberger.

Guest Sarah Rainsberger Panelists Richard Littauer | Abby Mayes | Eriol Fox Show Notes In this special Maintainer Month episode of Sustain, hosts Richard, Abby, and Eriol talk with guest, Sarah Rainsberger, a documentation lead at Astro, who shares her journey from teaching high school mathematics to becoming an open source contributor. Sarah elaborates on her approach to documentation, emphasizing the importance of clear, supportive, and inclusive communication to onboard new contributors effectively. She also discusses using low-tech tools like Chromebooks and cloud-based editors for open source contributions. The episode highlights the strategies employed by the Astro Docs team to recognize and value contributions. Press download now to hear more! [00:02:30] Sarah shares her background, role at Astro, how she got involved in documentation that started by fixing a bad choir website, and why she chose Astro over Gatsby and quickly became a key contributor. [00:06:49] She reflects on the moment she connected her work with the concept of “open source.” [00:07:54] Sarah talks about becoming a leader using Chromebook, taking lessons on Scrimba, and using cloud tools like CodeSandbox and Gitpod, the Astro community embracing her methods, and how she built a reputation as someone making meaningful contributions regardless of hardware. [00:14:24] Sarah explains how docs are “self-serve support” and essential to project success. [00:16:28] The conversation turns to combatting the stigma that docs are low value and Sarah addresses the false perception that documentation isn’t real development. [00:18:28] Sarah shares that Astro has over 1,000 docs contributors and details their intentional process of welcoming, crediting, and celebrating new contributors. [00:24:37] How does Astro handle lower-quality contributions? Astro uses the motto: “Not worse than what we had before.” They edit or mentor rather than reject, to build confidence and retain contributors. [00:29:12] Astro maintains a separate documentation site (“D Squared”) that outlines its processes for contributing to documentation. [00:33:25] Sarah shares where to find her work at the Astro Docs and where to find her. Quotes [00:05:26] “If I’m going in, let’s go all in.” [00:12:50] “I have chosen to maintain low tech.” [00:12:59] “I am known for my evil devices.” [00:14:36] “Docs are so important to a project that you want someone else to use or contribute to.” [00:15:28] “Docs is the most scalable type of support that you can have.” [00:16:37] “Everyone complains about docs until it’s someone else’s project.” [00:26:51] “PRs don’t just fall out of the sky; they are effort, and they are work.” [00:27:05] “There is some motivation behind this PR.” [00:31:41] “Several of our maintainers started by translating the docs.” [00:31:49] “If you want to find mistakes in your English docs, you want translators.” Spotlight [00:34:40] Abby’s’ spotlight is CommunityRule. [00:35:04] Eriol’s spotlight is State of Docs. [00:35:19] Richard’s spotlight is Nathan Schneider and the Protocol Oral History Project. [00:36:08] Sarah’s spotlight is Better GitHub Co-Authors. Links SustainOSS (https://sustainoss.org/) podcast@sustainoss.org (mailto:podcast@sustainoss.org) richard@sustainoss.org (mailto:richard@sustainoss.org) SustainOSS Discourse (https://discourse.sustainoss.org/) SustainOSS Mastodon (https://mastodon.social/tags/sustainoss) SustainOSS Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/sustainoss.bsky.social) SustainOSS LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/sustainoss/) Open Collective-SustainOSS (Contribute) (https://opencollective.com/sustainoss) Richard Littauer Socials (https://www.burntfen.com/2023-05-30/socials) Abby Cabunoc Mayes GitHub (https://abbycabs.github.io/) Eriol Fox GitHub (https://erioldoesdesign.github.io/) Sarah Rainsberger Website (https://www.rainsberger.ca/) Sarah Rainsberger Mastodon (https://mastodon.social/@sarah11918) Non-code contributions are the secret to open source success (The ReadME Project) (https://github.com/readme/featured/open-source-non-code-contributions) Astro (https://astro.build/) Astro Docs (https://docs.astro.build/en/getting-started/) Contribute to Astro (https://docs.astro.build/en/contribute/) Gitpod (https://www.gitpod.io/) Scrimba (https://scrimba.com/home) Hugo Server (https://gohugo.io/commands/hugo_server/) CommunityRule (https://communityrule.info/) State of Docs (https://www.stateofdocs.com/2025/introduction-basic-stats) Better GitHub Co-Authors (https://github.com/delucis/better-github-coauthors) Sustain Podcast-Episode 85: Geoffrey Huntley and Sustaining OSS with Gitpod (https://podcast.sustainoss.org/85) Sustain Podcast- 2 episodes featuring Nathan Schneider (https://podcast.sustainoss.org/guests/nathan-schneider) Credits Produced by Richard Littauer (https://www.burntfen.com/) Edited by Paul M. Bahr at Peachtree Sound (https://www.peachtreesound.com/) Show notes by DeAnn Bahr Peachtree Sound (https://www.peachtreesound.com/) Special Guest: Sarah Rainsberger.

Guest Kade Morton Panelists Richard Littauer | Eriol Fox Show Notes In this Maintainers Month episode of Sustain, host Richard Littauer and co-host Eriol Fox talk with cybersecurity expert Kade Morton from Arachne Digital. The conversation dives into how Kade’s unconventional path through criminology and international relations led him into cybersecurity and open source. They explore the unique challenges of sustaining open source security tools, particularly for human rights activists and under-resourced groups, the tension between proprietary and open solutions, and how geopolitical contexts and human motivations influence modern digital threat landscapes. Hit download now to hear more! [00:01:41] Kade explains his work is split between a day job working security operations and a startup he runs called Arachne Digital. [00:02:51] Kade tells us about his background, how he got into cybersecurity through self-teaching and open source, and how his criminology and international relations studies informed his interest in cyber threats. [00:05:17] Kade discusses the open source projects he maintains, specifically ‘Thread.’ [00:06:50] We learn about the difficulty of getting others invested in better tools and Kade discusses challenges explaining open source values to corporate environments. [00:12:26] Richard asks whether closed-source software is more secure and Kade highlights how most real world exploits target proprietary software. [00:14:57] Eriol brings up security perceptions in non-tech orgs using digital tools. Kade shares how Arachne Digital offers free services to vetted human rights orgs and he they discuss challenges balancing funding and access in human rights cybersecurity. [00:19:17] Richard reflects on monetization models for sustaining open source cybersecurity. Kade explains his company avoids fear-based marketing and promotes awareness instead. [00:22:40] Kade outlines how their threat-informed defense model works. [00:25:42] Eriol asks what changes could help improve open source sustainability. Kade discusses feeling out of place in both government and open source spaces and emphasizes cross-pollination between sectors to reduce polarity. [00:28:29] Richard introduces the concept of “digital sovereignty.” Kade warns of the risks of splintering the internet through nationalism and advocates for a balanced middle ground between centralization and fragmentation. [00:31:41] Kade shares where you can find his work on the web. Quotes [00:13:44] “It’s mostly proprietary software that’s being hacked.” [00:29:40] “The internet is the world’s largest shared resource.” Spotlight [00:32:56] Eriol’s spotlight is a repository called: The Design We Open. [00:33:49] Richard’s spotlight is 1Password and Robin Riley. [00:34:31 Kade’s spotlight is a shoutout to Mitre for TRAM and Justin Seitz who wrote a blog post on a project called, Searx. Links SustainOSS (https://sustainoss.org/) podcast@sustainoss.org (mailto:podcast@sustainoss.org) richard@sustainoss.org (mailto:richard@sustainoss.org) SustainOSS Discourse (https://discourse.sustainoss.org/) SustainOSS Mastodon (https://mastodon.social/tags/sustainoss) SustainOSS Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/sustainoss.bsky.social) SustainOSS LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/sustainoss/) Open Collective-SustainOSS (Contribute) (https://opencollective.com/sustainoss) Richard Littauer Socials (https://www.burntfen.com/2023-05-30/socials) Eriol Fox GitHub (https://erioldoesdesign.github.io/) Kade Morton LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kade-morton-34179283/) Arachne Digital (https://www.arachne.digital/) Arachne Digital LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/arachne-digital/) Arachne Digital (Medium) (https://arachnedigital.medium.com/) Arachne Digital (YouTube) (https://www.youtube.com/@Arachne_Digital) Arachne Digital (Bluesky) (https://bsky.app/profile/arachnedigital.bsky.social) Arachne Digital (GitHub) (https://github.com/arachne-threat-intel/) Thread-GitHub (https://github.com/arachne-threat-intel/thread) The National Digital Forum (NDF) (https://www.ndf.org.nz/) The New Design Congress (https://newdesigncongress.org/en/) Open Technology Fund -Security Lab (https://www.opentech.fund/labs/security-lab/) The Design We Open (GitHub) (https://github.com/sprblm/The-Design-We-Open) 1Password (https://1password.com/) TRAM (https://github.com/mitre-attack/tram) Searx (https://github.com/searx/searx) Credits Produced by Richard Littauer (https://www.burntfen.com/) Edited by Paul M. Bahr at Peachtree Sound (https://www.peachtreesound.com/) Show notes by DeAnn Bahr Peachtree Sound (https://www.peachtreesound.com/) Special Guest: Kade Morton.

Guest Kade Morton Panelists Richard Littauer | Eriol Fox Show Notes In this Maintainers Month episode of Sustain, host Richard Littauer and co-host Eriol Fox talk with cybersecurity expert Kade Morton from Arachne Digital. The conversation dives into how Kade’s unconventional path through criminology and international relations led him into cybersecurity and open source. They explore the unique challenges of sustaining open source security tools, particularly for human rights activists and under-resourced groups, the tension between proprietary and open solutions, and how geopolitical contexts and human motivations influence modern digital threat landscapes. Hit download now to hear more! [00:01:41] Kade explains his work is split between a day job working security operations and a startup he runs called Arachne Digital. [00:02:51] Kade tells us about his background, how he got into cybersecurity through self-teaching and open source, and how his criminology and international relations studies informed his interest in cyber threats. [00:05:17] Kade discusses the open source projects he maintains, specifically ‘Thread.’ [00:06:50] We learn about the difficulty of getting others invested in better tools and Kade discusses challenges explaining open source values to corporate environments. [00:12:26] Richard asks whether closed-source software is more secure and Kade highlights how most real world exploits target proprietary software. [00:14:57] Eriol brings up security perceptions in non-tech orgs using digital tools. Kade shares how Arachne Digital offers free services to vetted human rights orgs and he they discuss challenges balancing funding and access in human rights cybersecurity. [00:19:17] Richard reflects on monetization models for sustaining open source cybersecurity. Kade explains his company avoids fear-based marketing and promotes awareness instead. [00:22:40] Kade outlines how their threat-informed defense model works. [00:25:42] Eriol asks what changes could help improve open source sustainability. Kade discusses feeling out of place in both government and open source spaces and emphasizes cross-pollination between sectors to reduce polarity. [00:28:29] Richard introduces the concept of “digital sovereignty.” Kade warns of the risks of splintering the internet through nationalism and advocates for a balanced middle ground between centralization and fragmentation. [00:31:41] Kade shares where you can find his work on the web. Quotes [00:13:44] “It’s mostly proprietary software that’s being hacked.” [00:29:40] “The internet is the world’s largest shared resource.” Spotlight [00:32:56] Eriol’s spotlight is a repository called: The Design We Open. [00:33:49] Richard’s spotlight is 1Password and Robin Riley. [00:34:31 Kade’s spotlight is a shoutout to Mitre for TRAM and Justin Seitz who wrote a blog post on a project called, Searx. Links SustainOSS (https://sustainoss.org/) podcast@sustainoss.org (mailto:podcast@sustainoss.org) richard@sustainoss.org (mailto:richard@sustainoss.org) SustainOSS Discourse (https://discourse.sustainoss.org/) SustainOSS Mastodon (https://mastodon.social/tags/sustainoss) SustainOSS Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/sustainoss.bsky.social) SustainOSS LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/sustainoss/) Open Collective-SustainOSS (Contribute) (https://opencollective.com/sustainoss) Richard Littauer Socials (https://www.burntfen.com/2023-05-30/socials) Eriol Fox GitHub (https://erioldoesdesign.github.io/) Kade Morton LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kade-morton-34179283/) Arachne Digital (https://www.arachne.digital/) Arachne Digital LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/arachne-digital/) Arachne Digital (Medium) (https://arachnedigital.medium.com/) Arachne Digital (YouTube) (https://www.youtube.com/@Arachne_Digital) Arachne Digital (Bluesky) (https://bsky.app/profile/arachnedigital.bsky.social) Arachne Digital (GitHub) (https://github.com/arachne-threat-intel/) Thread-GitHub (https://github.com/arachne-threat-intel/thread) The National Digital Forum (NDF) (https://www.ndf.org.nz/) The New Design Congress (https://newdesigncongress.org/en/) Open Technology Fund -Security Lab (https://www.opentech.fund/labs/security-lab/) The Design We Open (GitHub) (https://github.com/sprblm/The-Design-We-Open) 1Password (https://1password.com/) TRAM (https://github.com/mitre-attack/tram) Searx (https://github.com/searx/searx) Credits Produced by Richard Littauer (https://www.burntfen.com/) Edited by Paul M. Bahr at Peachtree Sound (https://www.peachtreesound.com/) Show notes by DeAnn Bahr Peachtree Sound (https://www.peachtreesound.com/) Special Guest: Kade Morton.