Numbers and Narratives: The Dual Power of Tracking Your Open Source Journey

A while back, I came across this LinkedIn post.

It got me thinking about ranking and trending in open source. If you don't have a reference for how you're doing, how can you measure your growth or understand why you're trending?

Progress can often feel intangible. Contributors pour hours into projects, submitting pull requests, reviewing code, and engaging in discussions, but how can they truly measure their growth and impact? This question isn't just about personal satisfaction – it's about understanding the value we bring to the community and identifying areas for improvement.

#100DaysOfOSS: A Journey of Growth

Every day, we hear from people who want to make an impact in open source but don't know where to start. They ask, "How can I contribute?" and "How will my contributions matter?" These are tough questions, especially when you're just starting out. Last week, we started off our #100DaysOfOSS Challenge to help answer these questions and guide you through your open source journey.

The #100DaysOfOSS Challenge is a structured way to dive into open source, with weekly tasks designed to help contributors learn, connect, and contribute in meaningful ways--we'll never promote drive-by contributions or practices that put stress on maintainers. We want to see contributors grow and make progress, not just check off boxes.

It's not about coding for 100 days straight. It's about understanding the power of community to transform hesitation into action. Progress isn't just about lines of code or number of commits. It's both about quantifiable metrics and personal narratives. And a big part of this transformation? Tracking your progress.

The Dual Approach: Numbers and Narratives

To have a better understanding of progress in open source, we need to embrace a dual approach: quantitative metrics and qualitative narratives. Each offers unique insights that, when combined, provide a comprehensive view of a contributor's journey.

Why does tracking open source contributions matter?

What gets measured, gets improved. When you can see your contributions adding up, when you can quantify your growing influence in the community, it becomes a powerful motivator. At the end of #100DaysOfOSS or whatever period of time you're tracking, you should have a tangible way to see how far you've come and you should have a story to tell about what you did to get there.

Quantitative Metrics: The Power of Numbers

Metrics like the OSCR (Open Source Contributor Rating) offer a tangible way to track contribution impact, quality, and influence. The OSCR is a metric developed by OpenSauced to quantify a contributor's impact and engagement in open source projects by looking at PRs, your engagement in discussions, issues, and more, and looking at the frequency you contribute. It's a metric that goes beyond simple contribution counts, factoring in your overall influence and impact in the open source ecosystem.

By regularly checking these metrics, contributors can:

• Set baselines and track improvements over time
• Identify trends in their contribution patterns
• Set concrete goals for improvement
• Celebrate quantifiable milestones

Here's the crucial part: while the OSCR score provides a tangible measure of growth, it's only half the story.

Qualitative Narratives: The Human Element

When you combine your numbers with personal narratives you bring your contributions to life, showing the learning, the connections made, the challenges overcome.

Example: Brian's Story

Imagine Sarah, a new contributor participating in #100DaysOfOSS. On day one of the challenge, her OSCR score is 10. By day 50, it's risen to 35. That's impressive growth, but what does it really mean?

This is where the storytelling becomes important. In Introducing the OSCR we shared both Luca and Tyler's stories. Your story, if you're a beginner might be something more like @bdougie's that he shared on this episode of The Secret Sauce:

"[W]hen I first did my first contribution to open source project, I actually emailed the maintainer the same way this person did to me because I didn't know how to use GitHub. I had an account. I found the repo, but I didn't know about issues because at the company I worked for, my first junior developer job, we use JIRA for everything. Like everything, everything. So I never opened up issues. And I was like, Oh, issues. Oh, I've heard about these."

bdougie's story would continue to reveal his growth at Netlify, then on the GitHub DevRel team, and eventually founding OpenSauced. It didn't happen overnight. He had to learn to write an issue first. Hearing that story connects us to his journey and growth.

With this much experience, you might ask why his OSCR score isn't higher. That's part of the story. As the founder of OpenSauced, he spends less time on coding, interacting in GitHub, and day-to-day repository-level tasks, and more time focusing on CEO responsibilities.

See the difference? The numbers show contributions, but the story paints the full picture.

Why This Matters: Strengthening the Open Source Ecosystem

The dual approach of tracking progress through numbers and narratives isn't just about individual growth – it's a tool for strengthening the entire open source ecosystem. Here's why this approach is so impactful:

• Motivation and Retention: Seeing tangible progress, both in numbers and personal growth stories, encourages contributors to stay engaged long-term. The OSCR score provides a concrete measure of growth, while narratives offer a sense of achievement that numbers alone can't capture.
• Community Health and Connection: When individuals can share their value through both data and stories, it leads to more meaningful recognition and a healthier, more supportive community. Sharing both metrics and narratives can inspire others, creating a sense of belonging and creating a culture of continuous improvement.
• Project Improvement: Understanding individual and collective progress through metrics helps project maintainers make informed decisions about project direction and resource allocation. Complementing this with narrative insights provides context and depth to these decisions.
• Career Advancement: In professional settings, such as job interviews, contributors can present both data (like OSCR scores) and anecdotes to demonstrate their open source experience comprehensively. This dual approach offers a powerful narrative for career development.
• Holistic Progress Tracking: While metrics provide a quick snapshot of growth, narratives fill in the gaps, explaining the 'how' and 'why' behind the numbers. This combination offers a more complete picture of a contributor's journey and impact.

Progress is gradual. OSCR scores won't skyrocket overnight - in fact, they are on a rolling 90-day basis - and that's okay. Tracking work and OSCRs isn't about comparing yourself to others when you're learning. It's about tracking your own growth and telling your unique story.

Join the Journey

Open source thrives because of people like you - people willing to learn, to contribute, to share. Your contributions, no matter how small they might seem, make a difference.

So, are you ready to start learn what your OSCR score is? Head over to your profile page and share your DevCard today or check mine out to see what they look like.

Remember, open source contribution is about quality over quantity. A small increase in your OSCR could represent significant learning and growth on your part. It's not just about the number, but the skills and connections you're building along the way.