A New Home for the Humans Behind Open Source
Open source is the invisible foundation of modern software—by some estimates, 99% of code relies on it. Yet the people who build and maintain that foundation rarely get the same attention as the code itself. Their stories of persistence, collaboration, and problem-solving are often lost behind issue trackers and pull requests.
That gap is what The ReadME Project aims to fill. It's a space for the community to share those narratives and learn from each other, with a focus on the personal and professional journeys that shape open source work. The project launches with profiles of Henry Zhu, Samson Goddy, Sonia John, Ovilia Zhang, and Dirk Lemstra—five developers whose contributions range from popular tools to community-building efforts. Their stories are live now, and more are planned.
The project also invites nominations for future profiles, whether for well-known figures or unsung contributors whose work has made a real difference. The goal is to capture the full spectrum of experience: the creativity and collaboration, but also the grit and setbacks that come with building software in the open.
Feedback and ideas from readers will shape what comes next. The project will continue to highlight individuals, but it will also experiment with new formats and features over time. For anyone who builds with open source, the hope is that these profiles offer something useful to carry back into their own work—a reminder of the human effort that quietly powers so much of what we use.
