Zverik’s diary post contained the word “Gatekeeprs” and I have also used that term, as well as “self appointed Sheriff’s of OSM” and “grumpy people” :)

OSM contributor Dzertanoj made the comment that “Gatekeeper” was a very negative term in Russian, that it even implied “dumb”. In American English it is a negative term, but mildly so. In fact, to most folks it even implies the longest contributing, most experienced folks in an open source project.

Gatekeeping is a critical role to a large open project like OSM.

The problem is, that over time, years of experience supporting and contributing to the project, the gatekeepers are in the best place to see what is needed to keep the project at a very high level of quality, which OSM is at, a very high level of quality, infrastructure, data, code base, ecosystem, etc, it is in large part due to the gatekeepers.

But I think what happens is that after several years, over 10+ years in some cases, of seeing all sorts of folks and ideas and efforts come to the “commons” that is an open source project, the gatekeepers get a little focused on keeping the gate closed. They have cleaned up after this, heard this, seen this, tried this, whatever it may be and they know all the parts that cause issues on the commons. So they rightly keep the gate closed or try to.

What is needed, what I have personally tried to do, and what HOT (disclosure: I am a HOT member and past board member) tries to do is be “Gateopeners”

We know the rules as the community and gatekeepers in particular have created, they are things like the import guidelines and draft of the directed edition policy are two great examples.

We open the gate and say “Welcome, glad you are here. Sure you can do that, let us show you around the place a bit. Here are the guidelines for doing X, we can go over them with you, help you with them, show you where the wiki templates are, but you have to just follow them. You will get great feedback from the community on issues and they are very helpful with suggestions. Your project to do X will go much better following their advice. They have also done this many times and may have examples of how they did it in the past they will share with you.”

But it takes time and folks to do that and unfortunately gatekeepers are usually also doing another job or two around OSM, like making significant contributions and/or running a business around OSM.

So we need gatekeepers, but we need gateopeners too. Gateopeners just want to work with and along side the gatekeepers. Let us help you by fulfilling that role so you can keep to other important matters.

I should also note what I hope is obvious: There are gatekeepers and gateopeners in other areas besides tech. They exist for fundraising and diversity as well and I am sure other areas that I am not thinking of at the moment.

I have seen great examples of gateopening over the past few years across all of these areas and I hope to have been an effective one myself. Thank you for performing an equally critical and often unrecognized role.

This whole post is meant in the most genuine appreciation for gatekeepers, self appointed Sheriffs, and grumpy experienced folks who have helped make OSM the success it is now and the success it will enjoy in the future. I won’t “name names” but I hope you know who you are and know that your contributions and role in OSM mean the world to folks. I look forward to working with you all more in the future!

As Heather Leson likes to say: “Let’s go be awesome together.”

Respectfully, blake