Open Source journey of Tinotenda Mhedziso

Passion over pain. A phrase that I have grown to like and try to live by. My software development journey began with a pebble: a simple video game that I played as a kid, Watch Dogs, inspired me to venture forth into the technological realm. Of course other factors such as my appreciation for computers played a role but this was the catalyst that led to other stepping stones on this road.

I needed something to do, at least something productive other than playing games🥱. Many of us want to help our community but majority don't have the means to do so or don't know where to begin. Open-source projects gave me the ability to do something beneficial in the meantime while I gather the necessary resources to do more for those around me.

Simply just talking to people works for me. Whether that is my LinkedIn network, various forums on the Dev community or my friends at university. A standard conversation can take you so far and it doesn't even need to begin from a tech perspective.

How slow my PC is at times 🤣. No but seriously, as I said, many people, especially in Africa lack the technological resources to do more. We all have the ability to grow in some way, only at times we are confided to our room to grow. How have I overcome them ? Task Manager :)... Honestly it's about what you have and do with that not what you don't have, focus on what you can do not what you can't.

The greatest failure in life is Not falling, it's never taking that leap. That can be applied to any discipline, just start, regardless of your experience level. The falls do hurt no doubt but nothing worth it is ever easy.

As a University student currently, balance is not an option 🤣. It's good to seek that equilibrium between the professional, personal and open-source but also understand that you are bound to let one aspect of your life falter here and there. Now the importance is not keeping the one, or even all three at a decline rather learn from that experience and keep going. At the end of the day, we are all human beings.

We are all different and it doesn't take a 6-month long community code project to see that. The memorable experience of mine while working with fellow developers was exactly just that: understanding the perspectives of a different people. Even though we were all working on the same project, we didn't always have the same vision. The ability to converge different sights into something feasible is so rare yet so crucial. At times there's conflict too... Nothing physical obviously but a factor that is detrimental to the team moral and project itself. Not that I have mastered it personally rather I have learnt to work on it more.

As an individual developer, we should find a stable point between where do I draw the line on my viewpoints and where to I open up to an alternative solution. People who do not have much experience in open-source project often believe the latter is the important part: just saying Yes to any change someone else wants to make on your part.
Adaptability is very important, don't change yourself for others, adapt.
Understanding the difference in the project group is also key, as stated earlier, everyone wants the project to be successful but that does not mean people will have the same approach.

I think open-source is mostly beneficial mainly because of the community centered nature of things. Junior developers, senior developers, everyone get's to work on something they envision to be good for others. In terms of cons, I feel like it does inhibit certain organizations/individuals to attain the financial support that they would have previously if it was a paid project. Sponsorship does exist I am aware and kind developers out there make donations but in some light, we still live in a monetary world where even if there is that sense of community, if there is no capital behind a project, some fail before even starting. So that's my take on the two sides of the coin.