Open source software: how to live long and go far

An opinionated guide to building open-source software tools, with a focus on Python and science.

A talk given by Gael Varoquaux, He is also co-founder and scientific advisor of Probabl:, summarizing what he has learned across the years as a maintainer of open source.

The main themes of the talk are:

• Simplicity: Simplicity is valued above all else. This applies to the project's scope, the codebase, the API, and the user experience.

• Tradeoffs: Building good software involves making constant tradeoffs. There's no perfect solution; it's about finding the best balance.

• Community and Users: The community and the end-users are central to the long-term success of the project.

• Quality must be a priority.