From Helping Out to Taking Ownership: The Art of Sticking Around

This article discusses the journey from being an open source contributor to becoming a maintainer, highlighting that it requires more than just a few impressive pull requests. The author, Ayu Adiati, a tech blogger and open source enthusiast, explains the 'sprint' mentality of contributors versus the 'marathon' needed for maintenance. Key points include the importance of 'invisible' work such as answering questions, onboarding new contributors, triaging issues, and reviewing PRs. The article emphasizes that true leadership in open source comes from sticking around and doing the unglamorous tasks that keep a project alive, rather than seeking recognition.