CHAOSScast

Thank you to the folks at Sustain for providing the hosting account for CHAOSSCast!

CHAOSScast – Episode 132

We don’t have an episode for you today, because CHAOSScast will be taking a break for a few months.

During the break we will be evaluating how CHAOSScast supports the goals of the CHAOSS project. And to help us to do that, we would like to invite you to take a short survey by going to the link:

https://forms.gle/zrvanrRArgzc3wDD9

The survey closes on Friday, May 15th 2026.

In this short recording we go through the survey questions to get you thinking about your answers before you go ahead and take it, and first we share with you the goals of the CHAOSS project so that you have some extra context to help you answer in an informed way.

CHAOSS aims to:

Establish metrics and models for measuring open source community health

Produce open source software and initiatives for measuring community health

Develop programs for deploying metrics beyond trace data

Work with global partners to shape how we understand open source community health

The survey is quite short, but it’s really meaningful to helping us know how the podcast contributes to achieving CHAOSS’s goals.

We are especially interested in honest feedback, even if you rarely listen.

Thanks for helping.

Your CHAOSS community.

00:00 Podcast Break Announcement

00:13 Why We Need Your Survey

00:28 CHAOSS Project Goals

00:53 Survey Basics and Listening Habits

01:17 How The Podcast Supports Goals

01:44 Impact on Your Actions

02:10 Importance Versus Other Sources

02:21 Unique Value and Improvements

02:42 Thanks and See You Soon

Thank you to the folks at Sustain for providing the hosting account for CHAOSSCast!

CHAOSScast – Episode 131

In this episode of the CHAOSScast, host Georg Link sits down with guest, Elshad Humbatli, and panelists, Alice Sowerby and Adrian Edwards, to answer the question "How can CHAOSS metrics help you quickly assess the health of an open source project that you might want to use or join?"

Elshad, creator of Repo-Health, explains why he created the tool, and how he used the CHAOSS metrics to produce high-level insights on the health of an open source repo.

The conversation goes further, to discuss breaking down project activity to navigating the rise of AI-generated contributions, and dives deep into the human and technical sides of open source.

Hit download now to hear more!

[00:00:00] – The hosts introduce the episode and welcome the panelists and guest

[00:01:41] – Elshad shares how he discovered CHAOSS metrics and got inspired to build Repo Health.

[00:03:10] – A deep dive into the four pillars: activity, maintenance, community, and documentation.

[00:06:15] – The group debates how different metrics reflect project health and what “community” really means.

[00:10:07] – Elshad explains what Repo Health does and how users can benefit from it.

[00:12:00] – Discussion around the pros and cons of combining metrics into a single health score.

[00:17:01] – Exploring how context and goals shape which metrics matter using the GQM framework.

[00:21:00] – Real-world contributor experiences highlight the importance of documentation and responsiveness.

[00:23:00] – The impact of AI and LLMs on open source contributions and community dynamics.

[00:29:07] – Elshad shares future plans for Repo Health and opportunities for collaboration.

Value Adds (Picks) of the week:

[00:32:00] Gerog's pick is enjoying the in-between time after ending his last job.

[00:33:11] Alice's pick is the vernal equinox.

[00:33:58] Adrian's pick is spending time with friends and new experiences.

[00:34:35] Elshad's pick is low level language coding.

Host

Georg Link

Panelist:

Alice Sowerby

Adrian Edwards

Guests:

Elshad Humbatli

Links:

CHAOSS

CHAOSS Project X

CHAOSScast Podcast

CHAOSS YouTube

[email protected]

CHAOSS Calendar

CHAOSS Slack

Alice Sowerby LinkedIn

Adrian Edwards LinkedIn

Elshad Humbatli LinkedIn

Georg Link Website

Repo-Health tool
Special Guests: Adrian Edwards and Elshad Humbatli.

Thank you to the folks at Sustain for providing the hosting account for CHAOSScast!

CHAOSScast – Episode 130

In this CHAOSScast episode, host introduces Rowland Mosbergen, a research software engineer at Australia’s WEHI, and discusses experiences in CHAOSS Asia and open source community connections. Rowland compares research labs to startups and explains that CHAOSS Asia’s regular online meetings help him engage with the broader open source ecosystem despite not traveling to conferences. They mention tools like the OSC DB directory for finding communities and discuss how Chaos Asia helps share events and CFPs. Rowland describes his “practical diversity and inclusion” approach: embedding inclusion into processes by centering marginalized people, sharing power, creating safe spaces, and offering online, non-exploitative open source internships that assess achievement relative to opportunity. He also describes organizing Research Software Asia Australia (RSAA 26) and supporting new Research Software Africa and Latino America conferences through shared documentation and a large, flexible volunteer committee to prevent burnout. They close with personal value-adds: Rowland’s family time and the host’s move to Bangkok.

00:00 Welcome to CHAOSScast

00:21 Meet Rowland

01:41 Startups and Research Parallels

03:04 Why CHAOSS Asia Matters

03:40 Finding CHAOSS Asia

07:03 Mapping Asian Communities

09:38 Practical DEI in Action

13:31 Internships as Micro PhDs

16:27 Conferences and Global Expansion

20:17 Building Inclusive Frameworks

25:09 Value Adds

28:03 Wrap Up and Call to Action

Panelists:

Leon Nunes

Guests

Rowland Mosbergen

Links

CHAOSS

CHAOSS Project X

CHAOSScast Podcast

CHAOSS YouTube

CHAOSS Slack

[email protected]

https://www.wehi.edu.au/

https://www.solo.io/

[https://equersa.org/]([https://equersa.org/) - Research software Africa and Latin America

https://developers.events/#/2026/calendar - OSCDB

https://chaoss.github.io/oscdb/

https://www.practicaldiversity.org/
Special Guest: Rowland Mosbergen.

Thank you to the folks at Sustain for providing the hosting account for CHAOSScast!

CHAOSScast – Episode 129

In this episode of CHAOSScast, host Harmony Elendu is joined by Matt Germonprez and Johan Linåker to explore how Open Source Program Offices (OSPOs) can use metrics to understand and demonstrate impact. The discussion centers around Chapter 6 of the TODO Group’s OSPO book and how organizations can systematically measure the value of their open source engagement.

[00:02:00] Introduction to OSPOs

Johan explains what an Open Source Program Office (OSPO) is: a center of excellence that supports organizations in adopting open source strategically, aligning culture, governance, and business goals.

[00:04:41] The Four Impact Areas

Matt outlines the four key impact dimensions OSPOs should measure:

Partner Impact

Community Impact

Ecosystem (Supply Chain) Impact

Organizational Impact

[00:06:29] Partner Impact

How to assess which companies are contributing to the same projects, their level of influence, and how agendas align or conflict.

[00:11:00] Community Impact

Measuring contributor influence, merged pull requests, leadership roles, and employee growth within open source communities.

[00:15:19] Ecosystem & Supply Chain Impact

Why organizations must evaluate upstream dependencies and long-term project viability, especially in light of regulations like the Cyber Resilience Act.

[00:23:00] Organizational Impact & Governance

Aligning open source strategy with business goals, managing risk, automating dependency health checks, and enabling developers to contribute upstream efficiently.

[00:29:31] Metrics Over Time (Not Snapshots)

Why there is no universal red/yellow/green metric set. Context matters, and observing trends over time is critical for meaningful health assessments.

[00:36:00] Resources & Working Groups

Introduction to CHAOSS practitioner guides, OSPO metrics working groups, and research publications.

Value Adds (Picks) of the week:

[00:39:25] Harmony’s pick is reflecting on old photos.

[00:36:10] Matt's pick is embracing the opportunity to do winter sports.

[00:37:54] Johan’s pick is to enjoy parenting moments.

Panelists:

Harmony Elendu

Matt Germonprez

Guests

Johan Linåker

Links

OSPO Book

TODO Group

CHAOSS Project

OpenSSF Scorecard

CHAOSS OSPO Metrics Working Group

Harmony Elendu website

Harmony Elendu LinkedIn
Special Guest: Johan Linåker.

Thank you to the folks at Sustain for providing the hosting account for CHAOSSCast!

CHAOSScast- Episode 128

Check out the original GR-OSS OUT episode on the GR-OSS OUT podcast:

https://podcast.gr-oss.io/15-openssf-community

In this episode of CHAOSScast, we have a special crossover episode with the GR-OSS OUT podcast, hosted by Tabatha DiDomenico from G-Research and featuring special guest Stacey Potter, Community Manager at the Open Source Security Foundation (OpenSSF).

Stacey shares her journey into open source, which started in software license compliance and marketing before she found her passion in community-building through projects like Weaveworks and the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) ecosystem. Her experience spans the full project lifecycle from early-stage incubation to graduation, giving her a unique perspective on how healthy, sustainable open source communities grow.

A central theme of the conversation is what makes open source communities truly welcoming. Stacey emphasizes the importance of clear documentation, accessible contribution guidelines, well-labeled “good first issues,” and, above all, kindness. Reducing the fear of “doing it wrong” is critical, especially for newcomers who may feel intimidated by contributing code in public. Creating psychological safety helps transform curiosity into long-term participation, and contributors feel mentored rather than judged. Community health, she notes, is fundamentally about people, not just processes or tooling.

The discussion also explores how marketing skills translate into community leadership. Stacey reflects on the difference between top-down messaging aimed at executives and bottom-up engagement with developers. Understanding your audience, meeting contributors where they are, and fostering authentic relationships are essential to building trust. At OpenSSF, she is helping shift perceptions so contributors understand that participation is open to everyone, not just member organizations. She also believes it's important to support education initiatives and strengthen developer experience across projects.

Finally, Stacey highlights several OpenSSF initiatives and projects that could benefit from broader community involvement, including Scorecard, Minder, and OpenVEX. She also previews upcoming events and a new ambassador program designed to make open source security more accessible, and even fun! The episode closes with encouragement for listeners to get involved, contribute to the projects they rely on, and help build secure, welcoming open source ecosystems.

Links:

CHAOSS

GR-OSS OUT podcast

G-Research

G-Research vacancies

Open Source Security Foundation (OpenSSF)

OpenSSF Training & Education

Linux Foundation

Scorecard

Sigstore

SLSA (Supply-chain Levels for Software Artifacts)

Minder

OpenVEX

Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF)

Flux

Kubernetes

KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America

OpenSSF Community Day Korea
Special Guests: Stacey Potter and Tabatha DiDomenico.