Finding contributors and being a mentor

Identifying who among the current contributors will be a great future maintainer is the hardest part of getting new maintainers. In the early days of a project, or for a less experienced maintainer, everyone showing up looks like a possible maintainer. That’s not only overly optimistic but can also deter people from becoming a contributor. Remember that often contributors and end users come to a project with the “scratch-your-own item” mentality and doing work in a project for a maintainer likely isn’t that itch.

At the same time, as we will learn more about in Chapter 11, Open Source and the Talent Ecosystem, contributors may also have the motivation to gain development experience or even be part of the project leadership in time to open up their future employment opportunities. As a maintainer, know that you don’t have the responsibility of career development for a contributor looking to become a maintainer...