Testimonial of Florian Verdonck

This crazy little thing called Fantomas

Hello there, thank you for visiting this website and reading these testimonials.
Before I share mine, I would like to briefly outline one little fact so that we are on the same page. For the past six years, I have been maintaining a project called Fantomas.

What I got out of open source?

Getting real F# experience

I began my career as a C# developer in a small country where F# was virtually non-existent in enterprise environments. Given the limited job prospects for F# in my area, I was hesitant to invest time in it. However, like many of us, I found that F# simply clicked for me. It was enjoyable, intuitive, and left me feeling satisfied after coding sessions.

Remote job hunting was a challenging experience, especially without any real-world experience in the software stack of my choice. Fortunately, my involvement in maintaining an open-source project, Fantomas, proved to be a valuable asset in interviews. In some cases, it even opened doors and gave me a competitive advantage when applying for F# positions.

Meeting new people

Contributing to open-source has introduced me to many new people, including some great folks who share my passion for technology and with whom I instantly connect. Others have been invaluable mentors, providing guidance that has been instrumental to my career growth. By expanding my network in this way, I have accelerated my progress on many levels. I have discovered that geographically distant connections offer unique perspectives and opportunities that I wouldn’t have had access to otherwise.

Broaden your horizon

Being an open-source maintainer and contributor has been a tremendously enriching experience for me. It has exposed me to a wide range of code-bases, methodologies, and human interactions. Furthermore, it has helped me discover my interests beyond software development. For example, I have given talks on Fantomas and found that I genuinely enjoy public speaking. In recent years, I have been focused on improving the onboarding experience for new developers. This involves writing better documentation, restructuring code for easier comprehension, and organizing information in a more structured manner for others to benefit from. Moving forward, I aim to hone my skills in extracting and sharing knowledge in a more effective and accessible way.

Why community is important?

More seats at the table

I firmly believe that having more people deeply involved in a project can take it to new heights. This has been evident with Fantomas. Recently, more individuals have gained a deeper understanding of the tool’s workings. This is excellent news because the project should not revolve solely around me. While I never asked for that, it happens when there are no co-maintainers.

Having more people with profound knowledge leads to better design conversations and expands the boundaries of what one person can maintain versus what an international group can achieve. This significantly impacts the project’s possibilities. Moreover, having more people to respond to questions, issues, and releases has been beneficial for my sanity, as it provides a second wind instead of leading to burnout.

As a contributor to a project, having more people involved is also advantageous. It is easier to identify missing documentation when multiple individuals face the same problem. If you are the only contributor, your initial reaction might be, “Oh no, I’m not smart enough for this.” Similarly, if maintainers label your issue as low-priority, it helps to have fellow contributors who disagree and provide support.

Survival of OSS

Open-source software (OSS) thrives when more people are involved in maintaining it. I’ve personally experienced this with Fantomas. There were several occasions when I contemplated quitting as it was taking a toll on me. I felt overwhelmed, used, and struggled to see the bigger picture. These are common thoughts that many maintainers face. While some people urged me to keep going, what truly made a difference was not having to bear the weight of the world on my own.

There is always room for one more

Every project can benefit from any offer of help, no matter how healthy it may seem. In the case of Fantomas, it has been working for many users for years and may appear to be well taken care of. However, there is always room for improvement and contributions are welcome. I believe that even though we have made progress, we still have much to do. So, I always welcome the next contributor with open arms, regardless of whether they have a specific idea in mind or not. If you are unsure about what to work on, just ask us: we are happy to give suggestions!