Dr. Dawn Foster

Got a talk you've been thinking about? Want to GIVE a talk you've been thinking about?

You should submit your proposal soon, the CFP for SCALE is closing soon.

This is hands-down one of the best community-organized conferences you can attend, and Pasadena is great in the spring...

Updates from the CHAOSS Data Science Working Group: Practitioner Guides, Research, and More! - CHAOSS Our last Data Science Working Group update here on the CHAOSS blog was in June, so we thought it would be a good time to talk more about what we...

If you've been wondering what the CHAOSS Data Science Working Group has been doing and how you can join us, have a look at our most recent blog post. Fun fact, anyone can join us; no special skills required! chaoss.community/nov-2025-dat...

I read a lot, but I’m almost always reading on various devices, like an e-reader, phone, or computer. Today, I’m reading a physical book, but I keep glancing at the top of the page to see what time it is 🤣🤪

You don’t want to have neglected or abandoned open source projects with security vulnerabilities owned by your organization. The CHAOSS Practitioner Guide: Getting Started with Sunsetting an Open Source Project can help you responsibly archive projects. fastwonderblog.com/2025/11/18/r...

CHAOSS Funding Impact Measurement Working Group Wed Nov 19, 2025 9:00 AM - 9:50 AM (Time zone: Central Time US & Ca) @ https://zoom.us/my/chaoss

CHAOSS has a Funding Impact Measurement WG that meets every other Wed, and tomorrow, we have Adrienn Lawson presenting about Funding Impact Measurement at NGI! Everyone is welcome to join this or any other CHAOSS WG! The meeting details can be found on the CHAOSS calendar: teamup.com/event/show/i...

Practitioner Guides: #6 Sunsetting an Open Source Project **CHAOSScast – Episode 123** This episode of the CHAOSScast features hosts Harmony Elendu and Alice Sowerby, along with guests Stefka Dimitrova and Dawn Foster, discussing the process of sunsetting op...

I had a great time teaming up again with Stefka Dimitrova for an episode of the CHAOSScast podcast where we talked about responsibly sunsetting open source projects. You can learn more about the Sunsetting Practitioner Guide linked in the show notes. Enjoy!

podcast.chaoss.community/123

CNCF 2025 Community Awards Honorees span end users, maintainers, mentors, and long-time contributors, reflecting the strength and diversity of the cloud native ecosystem Key Highlights ATLANTA, KUBECON + CLOUDNATIVECON NORTH…

I'm super excited to learn that I won a CNCF TAGGIE award today! The TAGGIE award is given to individuals who have done the most to advance the CNCF Technical Advisory Groups. www.cncf.io/announcement...

Thanks to All Things Open for the post about our OSSEU panel focused on building a sustainable pipeline of open source contributors!

Moving is always hard 💖

OpenUK Awards 25 Community Category sponsored by Arm, Shortlist is live, congratulations to the shortlisted nominees: Andy Piper, @universalviewer.io (universalviewer.io), and Daniel Gale 🍾🥂🏆

#openukawards #opensource #community

I had the pleasure of attending the very first Digital Resilience Forum in Madrid, Spain this week where industry leaders, policy makers, governments, and others discussed and collaborated on ways to make our digital infrastructure more sustainable and resilient. fastwonderblog.com/2025/10/30/o...

When I first moved to London, I lived in the downstairs of a converted Victorian and shared a recycling bin with the couple upstairs. I first met my upstairs neighbor as I finished cramming the entire recycling bin to overflowing with boxes. I said, “I hope you don’t have any more recycling” 🤣

You still have a few more days to submit your CHAOSScon EU talk and get the most out of your FOSDEM trip!

This giant pile of potatoes was our “snack” about 2 hours before dinner 🤣🤣

We’re spending a long weekend in Madrid. I’ve been eating so many delicious potatoes, but not getting enough green veggies, so I just ordered a Russian salad as a starter. This is how I learned that it’s basically a potato salad 🤣

I'm excited to announce the latest in our CHAOSS Practitioner Guide Series on the topic of Assessing Viability! OSS is everywhere, but some projects are more viable than others. This guide has a framework for assessing the viability of the OSS projects you use.
fastwonderblog.com/2025/10/23/a...

Text reads: CHAOSScon Europe 29th Jan'26. Image shows the outline of several iconic buildings, including Big Ben, the Leaning Power of Pisa, and the Eiffel Tower.

Are you already planning your FOSDEM trip? Do you need a talk to get travel approval? CHAOSScon EU is the Thursday before FOSDEM, and our CFP is open until November 2! Join us to chat about metrics, project health, and related topics! chaoss.community/chaosscon-20...

Did you know that CHAOSS has a bunch of Working Groups (WGs) that anyone can attend? On Wednesday, @andrewnez.bsky.social will be at the Funding Impact Measurement WG to share data about open source project funding. You can find details about all of our meetings at chaoss.community/chaoss-calen...

I was thrilled to be invited to participate in the Turing Way fireside chat about governance along with @richlitt.bsky.social and @claredillon.bsky.social with hosts Jennifer Tridgell and Arielle Bennett-Lovell. Here's a summary with a link to the video. fastwonderblog.com/2025/10/16/t...

OSPOlogyLive Lyon 🇫🇷 | LF Online Community In-person Event - Join the 7th edition of OSPOlogyLive in Lyon (presentations, project workshops, and roundtable sessions) to help organizations navigate open source management, strategy, and OSPO ope...

It's not too late to register for OSPOlogyLive Lyon on November 5–6! It's free to attend, and there are some great topics on the agenda with a mix of presentations, interactive breakout sessions, and networking. It's going to be fun! community.linuxfoundation.org/events/detai...

My friend Matt Inman made a great comic about AI…

CHAOSScast Episode 120: Practitioner Guides: #5 Demonstrating Organizational Value In this episode of CHAOSScast, Harmony Elendu hosts a discussion with Dawn Foster and Bob Killen to discuss their extensive experience in open source and detail the motivations behind the creation of the CHAOSS Practitioner Guides. These guides aim to help practitioners navigate the overwhelming amount of data related to open source projects and understand how to improve project health and sustainability. The discussion covers strategies for communicating the business value of open source efforts to leadership, framing contributions in a way that resonates with organizational priorities, and prioritizing investments in critical projects. Press download now!

CHAOSScast Episode 120: Practitioner Guides: #5 Demonstrating Organizational Value #devopsish

In addition to the CHAOSS guide about demonstrating the organizational value of your open source efforts, @mrbobbytabl.es and I recorded a podcast about it! I also have a session at OSPOlogy Lyon (Nov 5 & 6) on this same topic (registration is open & free)!
fastwonderblog.com/2025/10/07/m...

OSPOlogyLive Lyon 🇫🇷 | LF Online Community In-person Event - Join the 7th edition of OSPOlogyLive in Lyon (presentations, project workshops, and roundtable sessions) to help organizations navigate open source management, strategy, and OSPO ope...

I hope you'll join me in Lyon for the free OSPOlogyLive event on November 5 & 6! We have several CHAOSS related talks, and it's going to be a lot of fun 🎉 community.linuxfoundation.org/events/detai...

Did you know that the CHAOSS project has a working groups that anyone can participate in? Our next OSPO WG meeting is on Thursday, and we'll be talking about measuring the value of your open source efforts. Details are on the CHAOSS Calendar chaoss.community/chaoss-calen... Join us!

How do we educate the next generation of open source contributors? This is what Ruth Ikegah, Leslie Hawthorne, Stephen Walli, and I discussed at the recent #OSSummit EU in Amsterdam. Here's my blog post with a few more details along with the video of the session. fastwonderblog.com/2025/09/27/e...

I'm looking forward to attending the Digital Resilience Forum on October 29 in Madrid! I'm particularly interested in the discussions around digital sovereignty and OSS sustainability. It's free to attend, and you can request your ticket and get other details by visiting digitalresilienceforum.com

At OSSEU, I talked about power dynamics, rug pulls, and corporate impacts on OSS sustainability. The point of the talk was that OSPOs can think strategically about what the power dynamics mean and how to anticipate / mitigate the risks associated with rug pulls.

fastwonderblog.com/2025/09/18/w...

The Shifting Power Dynamics in Open Source: Rug Pulls, Relicensing and Forks - OpenUK Relicensing and forks have shifted the power dynamics across OSS.

My OpenUK blog post, The Shifting Power Dynamics in Open Source: Rug Pulls, Relicensing and Forks, just went live! I hope you enjoy it. openuk.uk/blog-shiftin...

Call for Participation is now open! – FOSS Backstage 2026 Learn about our Call for Participation and how you can become an active part of FOSS Backstage 2026.

Our Call for Participation for FOSS Backstage is now officially open!

Find all the important information you need at a glance in our new blog post.

Read the blog post: 26.foss-backstage.de...

Submit your proposal: 26.foss-backstage.de...