作者 | 王启隆责编 | 唐小引出品 | 《新程序员》编辑部
With the wave of artificial intelligence, open source is no longer just a topic in the computer field, but has become an important engine to promote technological innovation and collaboration. We can often see headlines like "Open AI Gongdou", where the "big guys" are influencing the entire tech world with their every move. However, in the midst of this huge storm, there is a group of individuals from different backgrounds in the technology world who are working hard, who are the "little people" in the open source world, and are an important part of driving this technological revolution.
In 2009, with the advent of Win7, which influenced a generation of Chinese netizens, cloud computing began to become a topic of great concern, and the popularization of the Internet and the development of mobile communications became important factors in promoting social change. In addition to the technological exchanges between the large countries, many smaller countries have also embarked on their own technological journeys. This year, Vietnam has just joined the WTO and is facing a series of opportunities and challenges. This unease also affects every person in Vietnam, and affects the protagonist of this article, Hong Phuc Dang.
Hong Phuc Dang's original intention to go deep into open source stems from a phrase that his parents often said: knowledge can change destiny. In a difficult family background, she has always harbored a desire to create a better life for her family. By participating in open source, she found this treasure trove of knowledge. Gradually, she not only realized how she could improve her life through open source, but also realized that this opportunity should be shared with more people.
Initially, Hong Phuc Dang's exposure to open source was through a local organization of open source software users, which made her feel that others might lack similar opportunities. So she started to think about how other people would be exposed to open source without someone to guide her, and this question became the driving force for her to create opportunities for more people to have the opportunity to step into the world of open source and enjoy the changes brought about by knowledge, as she had experienced firsthand.
In 2009, she founded FOSSASIA, an open source organization with the aim of promoting the use of free and open source software by computer programmers in Asia. Starting in Asia, it works with a global developer community to develop open-source software and hardware solutions, including SUSI. AI personal assistants and Pocket Science Lab for Android smartphones. FOSSASIA ALSO ORGANIZES OPEN TECHNOLOGY EVENTS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, AND IS THE ORGANIZER OF POPULAR EVENTS SUCH AS THE CodeHeat.org CODING COMPETITION AND THE ANNUAL FOSSASIA SUMMIT, SUPPORTING THE MOST PROMISING TEAMS THROUGH BUSINESS INCUBATORS.
Since then, Hong Phuc Dang has often worn Ao Dai (Vietnam's national costume) and traditional Vietnamese attire to go out and out of various open source conferences. After Hong Phuc Dang came to China, CSDN "New Programmer" also interviewed this strong woman in open source. In her in-depth conversation, we heard her unique insights into the open source space and words of encouragement for those who are not from an IT background who are eager to make a difference in open source, and she warmly welcomes readers to communicate further through the contact information (https://www.linkedin.com/in/hongphucdang). Let's listen to what this open source struggler has to say.
Open source is not just an opportunity for a select few
New Programmer: Even though you're not a computer science major, you sparked your interest in computer science through the open source community, can you share this story with us?Hong Phuc Dang: Actually, when I first came into contact with the open source community, I didn't even know how to code. With the help of community members, I managed to install the Linux operating system on my PC. I quickly fell in love with Linux, which taught me how to use the command line to perform tasks efficiently on my computer. Unlike Windows, Linux doesn't pop up software update notifications as often and you don't have to worry about firewalls and viruses. By learning about open source operating systems, I began to research how to install various free software applications. However, my deep involvement in the community is driven not just by efficient open source software, but by the people in the community. For computer novices, navigating the open source community is like flipping the page, with pages filled with jargon and confusing to understand. In the open source community, there are always some people who are willing to put down their work and patiently spend three or four hours teaching novices. Even though their time is precious, they still go all out to help newcomers. Every open source contributor I've met has a common soul trait: positive, passionate, and sincere, with a clear understanding of what they do. It is worth mentioning that even those volunteers who have been involved in the work for twenty or thirty years are still enthusiastic when talking about their work. New Programmer: As someone who has been working to promote open source in Asia for a long time, what is the driving force behind this?Hong Phuc Dang: I was born in Vietnam, a developing country. Until twenty to twenty-five years ago, internet access in Vietnam was very limited, so we have been facing many difficulties in accessing information. Compared to people in developed countries, we don't have easy access to information on a global scale. I feel the need to create opportunities for more people through open source, which is why I studied Xi open source in the first place. For Vietnamese people like me, it is quite difficult to travel abroad, connect with developed countries, and integrate into the global ecosystem. Open source actually removes these barriers and provides the necessary conditions for Vietnam's progress. When I first contributed to an open source project, I was able to communicate with strangers from places like Europe, Africa, or the United States, where I had never set foot before. These experiences were very special and provided me with valuable learning Xi opportunities. So, open source itself is my driving force. It has changed my life and provided me with many opportunities. Open source provides us with the opportunity to be independent, and I hope to be able to share this opportunity with more people, so that everyone can choose their own path in life. New Programmer: What was the motivation and opportunity for you to set up FOSSASIA after going deep into open source?How did you solve the problem of creating and sponsoring projects at an early stage?Hong Phuc Dang: I don't have a good family background, so I've always wanted to create a better life for my family. I was taught from a young age that life can only be changed through knowledge. By participating in open source, I was able to Xi and acquire a wealth of knowledge on my own. Gradually, I realized that if I had the opportunity to improve my life, then this opportunity should also be shared with more people. I FIRST CAME INTO CONTACT WITH OPEN SOURCE ORGANIZATIONS THROUGH A FAMILY MEMBER'S INTRODUCTION, BUT HOW CAN OTHER PEOPLE GET INTO OPEN SOURCE IF THEY DON'T HAVE SIMILAR OPPORTUNITIES? In order to ensure the growth and continued growth of the community, any community needs an effective governance system, and the FOSSASIA entity was established to enable people and core members to contribute, work, and organize the community in a more efficient way. FOSSASIA WAS SMALL IN THE EARLY DAYS, AND FUNDING WAS A SERIOUS PROBLEM FOR US FOR A LONG TIME, AND THIS IS A CHALLENGE THAT MANY OPEN SOURCE ORGANIZATIONS OFTEN FACE. We were very fortunate to receive an angel investment in our early days, which shows both sides of the coin: we come from a developing country and naturally have some hardware disadvantages, but our weak position also becomes an advantage when seeking help, making it easier to get noticed in the global community. There was a desire to create a platform around the world that would nurture and grow developers from disadvantaged regions, and we had support from all over the world at the beginning. Gradually, I realized that donations or sponsorships were just a drop in the bucket for sustaining an open source organization, and that financing was the ultimate solution. As a result, we started to commercialize some of our own open source projects and consider how we could incorporate new business models into the way we work. IN GENERAL, FOSSASIA HAS DIFFERENT LONG-TERM SOURCES OF INCOME, SUCH AS ENGAGING WITH THE COMMUNITY, PROVIDING CONSULTING SERVICES, AND PROVIDING SPECIFIC ASSISTANCE WITH SOFTWARE. We are in close contact with communities around the world, providing them with valuable contributions, and in return by providing them with the means and resources to continue to advance the open source cause. New Programmer: How did Mario Behling, the other founder of FOSSASIA, help?Hong Phuc Dang: Mario Behling from Germany – The two founders of FOSSASIA come from two different cultural backgrounds, which provides a diverse perspective on how we bridge the gap between open source. I met him at an EU open source conference in Vietnam in 2007. At the time, Mario wanted to introduce the idea of open source to local companies, and that's how I got to know him. Mario can see things from a Western perspective. And, since he has been working in this field for many years, he has more experience than I do. Mario is also an attractive contributor to FOSSASIA, bringing valuable value, a wealth of experience, and the ability to connect with the outside world.
The global developer should never be disconnected
NEW PROGRAMMERS: WHAT ARE THE MILESTONES IN THE GROWTH OF FOSSASIA?
Hong Phuc Dang: A notable milestone in FOSSASIA's growth journey was the successful hosting of the in-person FOSSASIA Summit in Singapore in April 2023. For the past three years, when people have not been able to meet face-to-face due to the pandemic, this summit marks our reunion with FOSSASIA's members, contributors, and projects from around the world.
New Programmer: At the same time as this interview, and for the first time since the pandemic, you gave a public speech in China, how did you feel?
Hong Phuc Dang: I'm very excited to be in China again. I've always loved China, I taught myself some Chinese, learned a little about Han culture, and looked up information about traveling in China. However, since the outbreak of the pandemic, I thought I would never have the opportunity to come to China again. So I'm excited to be able to reconnect with developers in China.
Surprisingly, I've noticed that a lot of people, myself included, adapt quickly to changes in life. Everything seemed to return to normal in an instant, and the past three years were like a dream. But I think we should cherish being able to meet face-to-face now, because such opportunities are both mundane and hard-won.
New Programmer: How can open source organizations adapt to this sudden crisis?
Hong Phuc Dang: During the pandemic, we kept in touch with members of the organization through virtual meetings. At the same time, our software development work continues, and even our hardware projects have not been stalled due to the pandemic.
Perhaps the biggest challenge FOSSAISA faced during the pandemic was the death in India of one of our key maintainers, Areeb Jamal, a 26-year-old software developer in India. It's a sad loss because he has been contributing so much to the free/open source software community in Asia for many years, but we never had the chance to meet because he never had the opportunity to come to Singapore to meet us face-to-face. In the time of his passing, we faced a great dilemma, not only did we lose an important collaborator, but the critical projects he was responsible for were difficult to continue without maintainers.
Eventually, it took us quite a bit of time to train a new contributor to fill the void he left behind. Until now, I still feel like the whole project has been left with a hole. We miss him, but he will never come back, and the circumstances of the project itself have changed forever. It's a harrowing moment, but we try to adapt and move on.
New Programmer: So, the last two FOSSASIA summits have been held online. So, what lessons do you think can be learned from FOSSASIA's return to in-person events, and are you considering combining online and offline events in the future?
Hong Phuc Dang: That's a great idea! I think the key is that the pandemic has made people all over the world find new ways to communicate online, and they are less willing to travel. I really like the idea you mentioned, even if there is no pandemic, we can do a combination of online and offline meetings to communicate with more people who can't meet in person.
We need to be ready for anything and meet the challenges that come our way. In Europe, more and more people are now unable to travel due to the situation, which is also affecting the global economic situation around the world. But now, at least we've found a way to connect with each other, and by whatever means, developers around the world shouldn't be disconnected. In addition, open-source innovation has made a lot of progress in providing a more interactive virtual experience.
A truly open source project is necessarily global
New Programmer: How do you deal with management challenges in different regions and cultures?What aspects of FOSSASIA's organization and culture are worth Xi?
Hong Phuc Dang: That's a good point. We try to create a very inclusive environment. First, let's start with something very simple, like using English as the primary language. Even though we have contributors from India, Vietnam, etc., we use English on all our chat channels. We also have a comment contributor channel that is available to people all over the world. This way, people can reach a consensus in the comments. Overall, it's all about communication. We focus on facilitating communication between different regions and making it easier for contributors to communicate with each other.
We are also very concerned about time zones, choosing meeting times that are appropriate for the majority of contributors to ensure inclusivity. That's what we're trying to do. We take a very streamlined approach to the management of the organization in order to make decisions quickly. We encourage diverse people to participate in the decision-making process so that they feel that their voices are heard and that they have a role to play in the organization. This open and inclusive culture helps to motivate and create a team.
New Programmer: You've talked about your experience volunteering for other organizations and events. So, how do you ensure that your actions are consistent with open source principles and always serve the interests of the community?
Hong Phuc Dang: It's always good to volunteer. Through volunteering, we can learn something, meet new people, make new connections, and find new opportunities. As a result, most of the organizations I volunteer for are open source organizations, and they are very similar to my personal basic principles. But as you mentioned, balancing expectations from different communities is a challenge. If I'm involved in an organization and only focus on the benefits of the business, people question how that engagement can help our community. My answer is that in order to grow the ecosystem, we also need to participate in corporate activities, because businesses can bring in resources to fund what we do. Therefore, we do not want to deny the opportunity to engage with a certain group of people.
However, before I can start participating, supporting, or volunteering with any organization, I need to understand their vision and believe in their approach to governance. I had volunteered with other organizations before, but after a while I realized that it might not align with my desired values or the goals of my community. In this case, I would choose to leave directly.
I would like to emphasize that in order to successfully sustain the ecosystem of the open source world, we need to engage at different levels from the community, business, government, and academic sectors. This ensures that our actions are consistent with open source principles and ultimately serve the interests of the community as a whole.
New Programmer: You've said that FOSSASIA uses open technologies to solve the world's problems, can you share some of the success stories of open source software in Asia?
Hong Phuc Dang: In Asia, it's hard to limit the software to a specific region because if it's a true open source project, it has to be global, with contributors from all over the world. Sometimes, projects that start in Asia may have more contributions from Europe.
But I can talk about the Pocket Science Lab, which is a project that we are proud of. A few years ago, we started the idea of this hardware project with the goal of building a device called the Pocket Science Lab that would enable any scientist to take all kinds of measurements, collect environmental data, measure electronic waves, and create and manufacture this electronic device in a very affordable way. It is widely used in education and has spread beyond Asia to other places such as Germany and India.
Pocket Science Lab (Source: FOSSASIA official website)
So, while FOSSASIA hasn't been around for very long, we've managed to leave our mark in the open source world. We are also continuing to invest in the open hardware space and continue to promote open source hardware through the Pocket Science Lab program, not only at the FOSSASIA level, but around the world.
Therefore, open source is not only limited to the software domain, it is also present in many other areas of society. Especially in the wake of the pandemic, we believe even more in the importance of open hardware. During the pandemic, we saw a lot of supply chain issues, such as not being able to use equipment in depth, and the lack of chips that slowed down production. Therefore, local production is key. The Pocket Science Lab offers an idea that if we could easily create electronic devices at home and open source blueprint designs, more and more people around the world would be able to produce and manufacture their own hardware.
New Programmer: That brings me to RISC-V.
Hong Phuc Dang: That's right, RISC-V is a great innovation happening in this space.
New Programmer: What has been the most valuable experience in your career, and do you have any plans for your next small goal?
Hong Phuc Dang: I think one of the most valuable experiences in my career has been being able to work with people from all over the world. This collaboration not only gives me the opportunity to work with top developers, but it also allows me to connect with the people who actually create the software and hardware that we use. Xi and working with these industry leaders is an experience I value very much.
I plan to continue to play an active role in the open source community and continue to drive the development of the FOSSASIA project. I hope that through these efforts, more people can be created to learn and Xi and participate. In addition, I am also thinking about bringing more attention and resources into the open hardware space, as I think there is a lot of potential and opportunity in this space. Overall, my plan is to continue to contribute to the open source cause, advance the community, and make more progress on the technical and social levels.
As for my next small goal, I hope to hold the next in-person event of FOSSASIA in Vietnam in April 2024.
New Programmer: Will it be similar to the Singapore Summit in 2023?
Hong Phuc Dang: It's more and more similar, but there will be more Vietnamese developers on the scene. Our goal is to reach out to as many contributors from Vietnam as possible and increase the number of contributor bases in Vietnam.
Everyone has a place in the open source world
NEW PROGRAMMER: WHAT HAS FOSSASIA BEEN UP TO LATELY? I KNOW YOU GUYS HAD AI PROJECTS IN 2019 AND THE HOT TOPIC RIGHT NOW IS CHATTC.
Hong Phuc Dang: We currently have two projects underway. As mentioned earlier, this year's in-person summit event in Singapore took up a lot of time, so we launched the EventYAY program. It is an event management system that allows organizers to manage events from start to finish. Organizers can invite speakers, schedule time, handle ticketing, etc., on the platform, in addition to integrating a video conferencing system. We wanted to be able to provide a platform for organizers to automatically generate templates based on different needs, making the entire event organization process more efficient.
Another project is about the Pocket Science Lab. We are revamping the firmware and planning to upgrade the hardware. During the pandemic, we couldn't get a supply of some chips, but now things are getting better, so we plan to bring the next version of Pocket Science Lab to the market. We're also working with the University of Weimar in Germany, where they're using the Pocket Science Lab as a sensor box so that researchers can make various types of measurements.
New Programmer: Are there a lot of students involved in FOSSASIA's research?
Hong Phuc Dang: Yes, of course there are a lot of students involved. We have established good partnerships with universities in Germany and also have strong links with universities in Singapore, Vietnam, India and Thailand. Therefore, in order to maintain our talent pool, FOSSASIA actively engages a large number of students in these regions, with a clear understanding that it cannot be relied upon solely on a specific group of talents. Some people may be professional developers who see open source as a hobby, but as they get older, they may stop participating for family reasons. We need to keep nurturing the younger generation to become the next generation of open source contributors.
In addition to college students, we also focus on secondary school students, because training should start from the moment they start learning Xi computers. At a middle school in Vietnam, I encouraged students not just to install Windows, but to start with Linux and free software from middle school.
New Programmer: For young people who have a lot of theoretical knowledge from school or university, from places where they don't have a lot of practical knowledge. So they don't have the opportunity to use what they've learned to do a project. It may also apply to open source projects. Do you have any advice or advice for those young people on how to start exploring the open source world, or how to get those experiences?
Hong Phuc Dang: FOSSASIA has been working hard to solve this problem. We have collaborated with high school teachers in India and Singapore to share an example of a student organization – BuildingBloCS, which is made up of amazing students from universities and high schools, aged between 13 and 17. The "building blocks" are self-organized, but the teacher plays a key role in the process, introducing ideas and creating a platform for students to organize.
Now, Building Blocks has been very successful, with hundreds of members from different schools in Singapore organizing their own Xi classes to teach other students to code. THEY CAN ALSO BE SEEN AT THE FOSSASIA SUMMIT, WHERE WE CREATED OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS TO SHOWCASE WHAT THEY HAVE BEEN DOING.
Some of FOSSASIA's Xi classes are also student-run and students are encouraged to create a real place where they can interact and do what they love to do. It is essential for students to stay connected to the community. In every major city, there are FOSSASIA user groups and other user groups that provide opportunities to communicate with people and learn Xi.
If we can get enough support, we should introduce open source to the school level. Even if we can't introduce it into school, we can still support students in this age group by organizing coding projects or competitions, or by using college-level mentors to support these students. In conclusion, take a look at the "Building Blocks" project in Singapore, which is an example of how students can self-organize, teach themselves open source and programming.
The New Programmer: Open source is still often considered to require "tech-savvy people" to participate, and is seen as a matter of the computer world. But in reality, this is not the case. For those who don't come from an IT background but aspire to make a mark in the open source space, what words of encouragement would you like to share with us?
Hong Phuc Dang: I believe everyone can find their place in the open source world. In the field of open source, we need not only professional programmers, but also authors who focus on project and software documentation. If someone has a great talent for literature, they know how to write clear documentation – which is needed for every open source project.
Therefore, I would like to emphasize that you should not hesitate to participate in open source because of a lack of technical background. Whether you're facing technical challenges, documentation, event organization, user engagement, or contributor support, there's something for you. One of the best things about working in open source is that you meet a lot of active and passionate friends, work on exciting projects, and feel like you can make a difference to the world. If given the opportunity, I highly recommend anyone who is hesitant to choose to work at a company that is committed to advancing open source. Because it's not just about making a living, it's about how to do the right thing and how to contribute to creating a more sustainable future.