At a Glance
- Involved in open source since: 2022
- Works for: BMW AG
- Eclipse Foundation contributor since: 2022
- Involved in: Eclipse Tractus-X
- Committer to: Eclipse Tractus-X
- Eclipse Foundation committer since: 2022
- Fun fact: Despite being raised in the mountainous province of South Tyrol in northern Italy, and unlike many of her peers, Evelyn Gurschler never learned how to ski.
You started in academia, right? How did that lead you to software development?
In my studies, originally, I was more interested in economics and management. But throughout my studies, I had the opportunity to begin exploring my passion for IT. During my master’s degree, I focused on the digitalisation of the public sector, and alongside my academic pursuits I was teaching myself programming, learning Python initially and doing online tutorials and courses.
That really took off in earnest at my first job as a junior IT manager, when I got my first taste of more practical software development. I started at BMW in 2018 as a project lead and product owner but got more and more involved with the technical aspects of the role as time went on, before making the jump to a completely technical role in 2021.
What was your first encounter with open source?
It was in my early days at BMW. In 2018 I attended a yearly open source conference in South Tyrol, where I’m from. The talks there were my first real introduction to open source. I was already quite keen on open source before I stepped into my more technical role at BMW in 2021, but only acting as user of it.
When I was offered the position, part of the attraction of the offer was that the project I would be working on would become an open source project and I’d get the chance to get more involved with open source.
That was the Catena-X project, an open data ecosystem intended to enhance interoperability for automotive manufacturers while protecting data sovereignty. That ecosystem coalesced into a reference implementation and open source project at the Eclipse Foundation in 2022, the Eclipse Tractus-X project. And so, the Eclipse Foundation was really my first hands-on experience with both using and contributing to open source.
How have you found that experience thus far?
One of the main things I first noted with the Eclipse Tractus-X project is the ability to collaborate with and learn from so many different people. There were people from so many different backgrounds working together and bringing together so many different perspectives.
In comparison to closed source, when working in open source you benefit from increased transparency and collaboration. You get the chance to meet a much greater variety of people and hear a much greater variety of opinions and ideas. It’s a fantastic opportunity to learn new things you may never have gotten the chance to otherwise.
And it’s also an opportunity to give back. We’ve all gained so much from open source — not just BMW or even the entire automotive industry, but plenty of other industries as well. It’s only right that we should contribute back. After all, this is how open source will continue to grow and thrive: if companies are willing to invest resources into it.
How has your experience as a committer at the Eclipse Foundation been?
Before I started at the Eclipse Foundation, I was one of the people who only knew of it from the Eclipse IDE. So, it was a real crash course for me.
I’m quite often asked a version of this question, and it’s often aimed at the regulatory structure at the foundation. In my experience, I’ve never found it to be an impediment, or arbitrary. I want my open source project to be successful, and in my experience the rules help facilitate that success. The framework tells us what we need to ensure so that the project develops functional and usable code and provides a strong basis for licensing.
Being a committer is a very different role than working in an internal role. For people who don’t work in open source, it can be difficult to grasp the role and its responsibilities. This is true even for other developers, I find, if they haven’t yet gotten involved in open source at all.
Any advice for someone considering getting involved in open source?
I’d say the main thing is to not overthink it. If you like the sound of a particular open source project, go have a look at the repository on GitHub or GitLab. More than likely you’ll find what sorts of things the project is looking for contribution-wise, maybe even some hands-on instructions on how to make a pull request, and so on. If you have an idea on something you’d like to improve or fix, then just go for it.
That’s one of my goals for the Eclipse Tractus-X project, actually. We’re on a really good track. Still, I want to grow the community involved with it even more. One of the things I find most rewarding about working in open source is when someone outside my team makes a pull request and engages with the project.
The mentorship opportunities at the Eclipse Foundation are fantastic. If you want to learn more about open source and how it works, we have some true experts with really deep experience working with us. Especially if you’re fresh on the scene, this is a wonderful resource. Open source is really fun, and it should be fun for people, and the community at the Eclipse Foundation helps make it happen.