The Pull Request That Wouldn't Merge

It was supposed to be easy - a one-line api call change - introducing a handy little bit of extra functionality to existing automation.
No one could have predicted we’d need an entire set of new types and correlating functions, complete with tests, multiple rebases, and project goal debates between code owners.

Follow along the tale of the initial, innocent-looking code change and how it grew larger and more difficult as time and code reviews went on.

This talk will reflect on the challenges of open source participation by using a real-life example to see how we can learn from failure as well as success. Familiarize yourself with the contribution guidelines and community standards of a project. Find and use the build docs and learn about the importance of a project’s git workflow. Leverage the work you are doing into improving yourself as a developer and collaborator - we will look at the specific Golang and git skills that were acquired during this pull request.

Move on from hoping that that pull request would just quietly get forgotten to overcoming self-doubt, ask for help, resolve merge conflicts, and finish your work.

Let’s challenge ourselves and each other to be open to learning, to be vulnerable and ask for help, and to be kind and empathize with one another’s open source journeys.