Open Source Summit + Embedded Linux Conference North America 2026

It's no secret that building and sustaining thriving open source communities requires moving beyond sporadic contributions and fostering an ecosystem of engaged members. That process is not simple, and requires a lot of time and effort, which is not often something a maintainer has, which more often than not leads to maintainer burnout or project stagnation.

In this talk, Jeremy will connect the principal of a "flywheel" that we see in everyday life with the principles of Developer Experience, and discuss what a "DevEx Flywheel" should look like. He will explore how things like feedback loops, "time to joy", onboarding, and documentation all contribute to an experience that can enhance contributions, which in turn improves project health, value, and more.

This session will explore what the DevEx Flywheel looks like, and provide actionable strategies for:
- Creating seamless onboarding experiences and amazing documentation
- Implementing tooling and automating workflows by reducing friction
- Fostering welcoming communication and effective feedback loops

Stop hoping for community growth; start engineering it through Developer Experience.