Celebrating Community: My Journey to Receiving the GitHub Stars 2023 Award

Being part of the open source software community has been a fulfilling experience and one that I have been committed to for more than two decades now. I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to work on a variety of projects and contribute to the community in many ways. Some of the most meaningful work that I have done has been around promoting the importance of web security and raising awareness of software supply chain security issues. I believe that everyone has a responsibility to make the web a more secure place, and I am proud to be part of a community that shares that belief.

For me, the free and open source software movement (FOSS) has been a passion since I was an early age Linux enthusiast in my teen years, where I was actively following the Linux kernel mailing list and dabbled around in the cyberspace of BBSs and those early days of Bazaar-style software development.

I have dedicated most of my adult life to build software in the open, to engage with other developers around the world and contribute to open source software. It’s been a fullfilling and inspirational journey to join countless others across multiple disciplines of software development and build great things together.

It’s always about changing the world for the better and doing so with extreme kindness. And hugging. I’m a big hugger! 🤗

Nowadays, it’s been a decade long of work spent in the Node.js and JavaScript ecosystems. I started my Node.js journey with contributions and later on the project-lead of the MEAN.js full-stack JavaScript framework that’s built on Node.js, MongoDB, Express and AngularJS. These opportunities turned into fun hobbies like building command-line applications to manager Docker containers (dockly), and later on, working on matters of open source security. Projects such as Awesome Node.js Security help curate security incidents and raise awareness of security issues in the Node.js ecosystem.

Code projects I’ve build such as npq, lockfile-lint and is-website-vulnerable have been instrumental to helping millions of developers to secure their software supply chains and web applications.

For me, web security activism took many shapes and forms, from authoring books such as Essential Node.js Security and Serverless Security, to actively analyzing hundreds vulnerable code in npm packages as part of HackerOne’s Node.js Ecosystem Security working group.

This last year has been especially exciting to also unlock a new type of open source activism for me - the ReadyCodePush project. It’s one that I am very proud of as it has been a great way to share my passion of open source with the next generation of developers and help them to get started with open source contributions. It specifically aimed to include underrepresented groups and those new to open source software, often without even a GitHub account, and help them to get started with their first open source contribution.

What is the GitHub Stars program?

GitHub being the home of the world’s largest open source community, it is only natural that they would have a program to recognize and celebrate the contributions of developers who are making a difference in the open source community.

The GitHub Stars program is a way for GitHub to recognize and celebrate the contributions of developers who are making a difference in the open source community. The program is designed to recognize developers who are making a positive impact on the open source community and who are committed to building a better future for all of us.

Some incredibly inspiring colleagues of the GitHub Stars alumni include Gina Häußge who is a full-time open source maintainer on OctoPrint, Oluwasegun Adebayo who is the creator of the open source project UI components library called Chakra UI, and Daniel Stenberg who is the maintainer of the curl project.

Behind the scenes, stand the wonderful humans Anisha Pindoria and Martin Woodward who are the masterminds of the GitHub Stars program and orchestrate it to excellency as part of their work in GitHub’s Developer Relations team. I am thankful for the opportunity to be part of the GitHub Stars Insight Calls, the Stars slack channel and interact with other open source champions and product managers at GitHub. These have been valuable resources for me to learn and connect with other developers and I am grateful for the opportunity to take part in this program.

Gratitude

I am beyond grateful and honored to receive the GitHub Stars 2023 Award.

As a developer, I am passionate about the potential of open source software to transform the world of technology. The ability to collaborate, innovate and create new and exciting projects together with a vibrant community of developers is a privilege that I am grateful for every day. I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to work on a variety of projects and contribute to the community in many ways. Some of the most meaningful work that I have done has been around promoting the importance of web security and raising awareness of software supply chain security issues. I believe that everyone has a responsibility to make the web a more secure place, and I am proud to be part of a community that shares that belief.

Through these last couple of years, I have worked on several projects within the GitHub ecosystem that have been exciting and challenging. Whether it’s educating developers about insecure web applications, command-line tools or contributing to the development of open-source libraries, I always try to give my best and learn from others. And equally important - lift others up and recognize their work.

It is this constant drive to build anew, improve and push the boundaries of what is possible that I believe is the key to a thriving open source software ecosystem. I believe that together, we can make significant advancements in technology. To that end, the GitHub platform and the community around it, has played a vital role in shaping my career and helping me to grow as a developer.

This recognition means a lot to me, and I deeply appreciate it.

I would like to thank the GitHub team for this incredible honor, and I look forward to continuing to work with the community to build great things in open source. Thank you for your ongoing support and encouragement, and I hope to inspire and help others in the same way that you have inspired and helped me.