Nick Taylor: Building My Career and Community Through Open Source

Hi, I’m Nick Taylor (@nickytonline), a Developer Advocate and software engineer based in Montreal, Canada. Over the past several years, open source has been the thread connecting every chapter of my career — from learning new technologies to building communities and landing roles at companies like Forem (the team behind DEV), Netlify, OpenSauced, and now Pomerium, where open source continues to be at the core of my work.

Getting Started with Open Source

Early in my career, all my work experience was in closed-source environments — and Git wasn’t even part of the workflow yet. My journey into open source began out of a desire to learn Node.js and React, technologies I wasn’t using in my day job at the time.

My first pull request wasn’t perfect (far from it) — but that’s the beauty of open source: learning by doing. I started contributing to projects like React Slingshot and eventually became a maintainer. That experience showed me that open source isn’t just about code — it’s about community, mentorship, and collaboration.

What Open Source Means to Me

Open source is more than just putting code out into the world. It’s about creating spaces where people can learn, share, and grow together. It’s about giving back, fostering trust, and helping others on their own journeys.

Contributions can come in many forms — from opening issues to improving documentation to triaging bugs. Every contribution counts, not just code.

What I’m Working On

Right now, my open source focus is mostly on:

  • Pomerium: I help build and advocate for Pomerium’s open core Zero Trust access platform. That includes documentation, demos, and improving developer experience.
  • Copilot Extension Template: I maintain this starter kit for building GitHub Copilot Extensions.
  • Fun Product Manager Copilot Extension: I built this playful AI-driven project to show off the template’s flexibility: Fun Product Manager Extension.

In the past, I’ve worked at OpenSauced, improving contributor onboarding, open source analytics, and their AI feature StarSearch — Copilot for Git history. At Forem (DEV), I contributed to the open source platform. On the Frameworks team at Netlify, I supported frameworks like Next.js, Remix, and Astro.

I also contribute to projects like Chatty by Addy Osmani and Unsight.dev by Daniel Roe.

Growing Communities (Not Just Chasing Stars)

For me, building a strong open source community means creating a welcoming environment. Some things that help:

  • Clear contributing guides and documentation
  • Labels like good first issue to support new contributors
  • Patience and encouragement during code reviews
  • Using conventional comments or similar approaches for constructive feedback

One thing I learned at OpenSauced is that stars alone don’t define success. Forks, active discussions, and contributor engagement paint a much clearer picture. Community > Clout.

Challenges I Face as a Maintainer

One of the biggest challenges I deal with is balancing open source contributions with full-time work and life.

Automation, strong documentation, and setting healthy boundaries help — but building and sustaining a welcoming community takes constant attention and care.

How You Can Help as a Contributor

  • Follow issue and pull request templates. They’re not meant to annoy you — they save time and reduce back-and-forth.
  • Ask questions when you’re unsure — communication matters.
  • Be patient — maintainers juggle a lot.
  • Remember that non-code contributions like documentation, triage, and community support matter too.

Empathy goes a long way toward making open source projects sustainable.

How I Approach Open Source Security

Security is an ongoing responsibility. Some practices I follow:

  • Keep dependencies updated
  • Review third-party libraries carefully
  • Use CODEOWNERS for consistent reviews
  • Sign commits when possible

At OpenSauced, I helped bring security front and center by introducing Software Bill of Materials (SBOMs) (PR #3938) to make project dependencies more transparent. I also documented the approach on the OpenSauced blog (post written by my coworker Bekah).

The Biggest Security Challenges I See

Dependency sprawl — relying on countless libraries — is a major risk. Supply chain attacks are on the rise. Another serious challenge is maintainer burnout, especially as more security responsibilities fall on individuals without enough outside support. Building a trusted team of co-maintainers can help spread the load and make projects more resilient.

We need better tooling, more community investment, and shared responsibility to maintain a secure open source ecosystem.

Open Source as a Gift Economy

Chad Whitacre from Sentry said it best on a Pomerium live stream: open source is a gift economy.

When we contribute open source software, we offer a gift to the world — no strings attached.

But receiving that gift creates an invitation to give back, whether through code, support, sponsorship, or documentation.

This framing keeps open source grounded in generosity, while also acknowledging the need for intentional and thoughtful investment. Initiatives like the Open Source Pledge bring this spirit to life.

How AI Is Changing My Work in Open Source

AI is already reshaping how developers build and contribute. Tools like AI code completion accelerate development but raise new questions around authorship, licensing, and trust.

Another important shift is that developers often take on more of a code reviewer role when using AI coding assistants — evaluating, correcting, and adapting generated suggestions instead of writing every line themselves. This changes not just the pace of development but how responsibility and accountability are handled in open source contributions.

My Advice to Maintainers (New or Not)

  • Be kind. Words matter.
  • Document everything you can to make it easier for others to contribute.
  • Automate repetitive tasks when possible.
  • Celebrate contributors and milestones.
  • Take care of yourself — sustainability is key.

Most importantly: keep open source fun.

Passion and community are what make this all worth it.

References and Projects

About the Author

Nick Taylor is a Developer Advocate at Pomerium, where he works on infrastructure, Zero Trust security, and cloud-native networking. A long-time open source contributor and community builder, he focuses on empowering developers through practical solutions, technical demos, and real-world education. Nick is passionate about making complex technologies more accessible and building spaces where developers can grow and succeed.

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This story was published under CC BY-SA by the author.