Beginner vs Contributor vs Maintainer
ℹ️
Understanding the Hierarchy
Open source has a clear (but rarely documented) hierarchy. Knowing where you are—and where you're going—helps you navigate the community.
The Open Source Ladder
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ OPEN SOURCE HIERARCHY │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ ⭐ BDFL / PROJECT LEAD ┌─────────────────┐ │
│ Final say on everything │ 1-2 people │ │
│ └─────────────────┘ │
│ ─────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ │
│ 🛡️ CORE MAINTAINERS ┌─────────────────┐ │
│ Write access, release management │ 2-10 people │ │
│ └─────────────────┘ │
│ ─────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ │
│ 👥 REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS ┌─────────────────┐ │
│ Consistent, trusted contributors │ 10-50 people │ │
│ └─────────────────┘ │
│ ─────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ │
│ 🌱 OCCASIONAL CONTRIBUTORS ┌─────────────────┐ │
│ Sporadic PRs, still learning │ 50-200 people │ │
│ └─────────────────┘ │
│ ─────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ │
│ 👤 FIRST-TIME CONTRIBUTORS ┌─────────────────┐ │
│ Just getting started │ Hundreds │ │
│ └─────────────────┘ │
│ ─────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ │
│ 👁️ USERS / LURKERS ┌─────────────────┐ │
│ Use but don't contribute │ Thousands+ │ │
│ └─────────────────┘ │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘Role Breakdown
👤 First-time Contributor
What you can do:
- Submit PRs
- Open issues
- Comment on discussions
- Ask questions
What you can't do:
- Merge PRs
- Close issues
- Manage releases
- Make project decisions
Typical signs:
- No previous PRs to the project
- Questions about basic conventions
- Learning the codebase
How to level up:
- Get your first PR merged
- Respond quickly to feedback
- Be humble and grateful
- Read all documentation
🌱 Occasional Contributor
What you can do:
- Everything above, plus:
- Reference past contributions for context
- Participate in design discussions
- Help answer newcomer questions
Typical signs:
- A few PRs merged (2-5)
- Known to some maintainers
- Understanding of project conventions
How to level up:
- Contribute consistently (monthly+)
- Take on bigger issues
- Help with code reviews (even without merge rights)
- Build relationships with maintainers
👥 Regular Contributor
What you can do:
- Everything above, plus:
- Get assigned to issues directly
- Influence technical decisions
- Review PRs (reviews carry weight)
- Mentor newcomers
What you can't do:
- Merge PRs
- Close/manage issues
- Release management
Typical signs:
- Consistent contributions over 6+ months
- Deep knowledge of part of the codebase
- Maintainers know you by name
- Your PRs get faster reviews
How to level up:
- Express interest in maintainership
- Take ownership of a subsystem
- Help with project management
- Be reliable and responsive
🛡️ Core Maintainer
What you can do:
- Everything above, plus:
- Merge PRs
- Close issues
- Manage releases
- Set project direction
- Add new maintainers
Responsibilities:
- Review PRs from others
- Maintain CI/CD
- Security patches
- Community management
- Documentation
- Backward compatibility
⚠️
Maintainership is a Burden
Being a maintainer is mostly unpaid work. You'll spend more time reviewing others' code than writing your own. Only pursue this if you truly care about the project.
Progression Timeline
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ TYPICAL PROGRESSION TIMELINE │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ USER ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────►│
│ │ │
│ │ [1-4 weeks] │
│ ▼ │
│ FIRST-TIME CONTRIBUTOR ───────────────────────────────────────────────────►│
│ │ │
│ │ [1-3 months] │
│ ▼ │
│ OCCASIONAL CONTRIBUTOR ───────────────────────────────────────────────────►│
│ │ │
│ │ [6-12 months] │
│ ▼ │
│ REGULAR CONTRIBUTOR ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────►│
│ │ │
│ │ [1-2+ years] │
│ ▼ │
│ CORE MAINTAINER ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────►│
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘| Transition | Time | Requirements |
|---|---|---|
| User → First Contributor | 1-4 weeks | One merged PR |
| First → Occasional | 1-3 months | 3-5 merged PRs |
| Occasional → Regular | 6-12 months | Consistent contributions, relationships |
| Regular → Maintainer | 1-2+ years | Deep trust, proven reliability |
How Maintainers See You
Based on your GitHub profile and activity, maintainers quickly categorize you:
Green Light ✅
You have:
- Previous merged PRs (anywhere)
- Thoughtful issue comments
- Complete PR descriptions
- Responsive to feedback
Yellow Light ⚠️
You have:
- New account
- No previous contributions
- Generic PR description
- Unknown quantity
Red Light 🚫
You have:
- Hacktoberfest spam history
- Abandoned PRs
- Argumentative comments
- AI-generated contributions
Informal Roles
Beyond the official hierarchy, there are important informal roles:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ INFORMAL ROLES │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ 🔍 THE BUG HUNTER │
│ Files detailed, reproducible bug reports │
│ Doesn't fix them, but makes them fixable │
│ │
│ 📝 THE DOCUMENTARIAN │
│ Keeps docs up to date, writes guides │
│ Often underappreciated but invaluable │
│ │
│ 🌍 THE TRANSLATOR │
│ Translates docs and UI │
│ Opens project to new communities │
│ │
│ 💬 THE ANSWERER │
│ Monitors Stack Overflow, Discord, Discussions │
│ Reduces maintainer burden significantly │
│ │
│ 📢 THE EVANGELIST │
│ Gives talks, writes blog posts │
│ Brings new users and contributors │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘💡
Non-code Contributions Matter
Every role above is valuable even without writing a single line of code. Many maintainers started in these roles.
Quick Assessment: Where Are You?
- I have merged at least one PR to this project
- Maintainers recognize my username
- My PRs get reviewed within a week
- I'm sometimes tagged on relevant issues
- I help review other people's PRs
- I have write/merge access to the repo
0 checked: You're a user or lurker 1-2 checked: First-time / Occasional contributor 3-4 checked: Regular contributor 5-6 checked: Core contributor / Maintainer