At a Glance: Andrei Temnikov
- Involved in open source since: 2019
- Works for: Broadcom
- Eclipse Foundation contributor since: 2019
- Involved in: Eclipse Che, Eclipse Che4z
- Committer to: Eclipse Che4z
- Committer since: 2020
- Fun Fact: Andrei practices martial arts to relieve tension and relax after a hard day at work.
Why did you first get involved in open source software communities?
Not long after I started working for Broadcom, I was working on an internal project — a plug-in to provide modern development experience for mainframe software engineers — and we had a requirement that led us to integrate software from an open source community. As part of that effort, I ended up contributing some features back to the software we integrated. After that experience, we decided to make the entire plug-in open source.
How did that involvement lead to you becoming a committer at the Eclipse Foundation?
Initially, we integrated our plug-in with Eclipse Che, a Kubernetes-native IDE for developer teams. That’s how I became part of the Eclipse Foundation.
A couple of years later, we moved the plug-in software into its own project under Eclipse Che, called Eclipse Che4z, and I was one of the initial contributors. Because I had been working full-time on the plug-in software for quite a while and was sometimes the only person doing code reviews of new contributions, I had the history and experience to become a committer to the project.
How would you summarize your experiences as a committer?
The most rewarding thing is the feedback you get from other developers. I remember I was able to review a contribution for a bug fix quite quickly and I received a very nice thank you from the developer. He said he wished all technical support people worked as fast as I did. So, that was really rewarding for me.
Also, we received several pull requests from external contributors who took part in the recent Hacktoberfest event, and that was really cool. It showed that people are really interested in what we’re working on and that our efforts are not in vain.
The most challenging thing is ensuring the code you contribute, and that your colleagues contribute, is the very best it can be. Sometimes fixing bugs takes a bit longer. Everyone can see the code and analyze it, and that visibility can create some pressure. You have to push yourself to do your best.
Sometimes, I’m really surprised by the new feature requests we receive. I’ve seen requirements I never would have imagined. These requests help us to broaden the software and increase its appeal, and that’s good for the future of the project.
What are your next steps and goals as a committer and Eclipse Foundation community member?
If I were to work on other open source projects, it would be on tools that make developers’ lives easier. I use these types of tools in my daily work and I’m very thankful to the people who created them. I like the idea that I could do the same for other developers.
What would you say to developers who are considering getting more involved in open source software projects at the Eclipse Foundation?
I would tell them to put their efforts into a technology they really like or that they use in their everyday developer life. This is the best-case scenario because you already know what’s needed, what to do, and how it can be done. If there’s a feature you need, you can just implement it instead of waiting for someone else to do it.