Andamio is pioneering new ways for people to learn what they need to know in order to work on meaningful projects. With the Catalyst Fund 11 Projects: Open-Source Cardano Go Libraries + Docs + Andamio CLI and Gimbalabs Research: "Contribution Treasury System" Model, we have been testing a prototype of Andamio's upcoming contribution features.
This post is a brief update on what we have learned so far.
Where are the experiments running?
Research and development of contribution systems is ongoing at Andamio and Gimbalabs across a series of initiatives:
- Delivery of the Catalyst Fund 11 projects linked above
- Weekly Gimbalabs Open Spaces governance sessions on Thursdays at 14:30 UTC. (view the archive on YouTube)
- Initial collaborations with Intersect focused on grant funding and contribution
There is a live prototype that demonstrates Andamio's contribution features at gimbalabs-prototype.andamio.io, and the Andamio team is currently integrating these features into the Andamio Platform.
What is the current focus of contributions?
We are currently focused on learning how to onboard contributors to projects that deliver education and open-source tooling.
Gimbalabs delivered a new iteration of Plutus Project Based Learning early this year. Now, following the Chang Hardfork, the release of Plutus V3, and the release of Aiken v1.1, the course is due for some updates. One model we are exploring invites students to contribute back to a course by making updates to the course material. With Sidan Lab, we are also prototyping in-person developer workshops built upon Gimbalabs course material.
On the open-source development side, we have collaborated closely with teams building open source tools for Cardano: Blink Labs and Mesh. Together, we are refining models for teaching developers enough to start making contributions to critical open-source projects.
Why do we need these models?
Like any Web3 initiative that is truly new, our work requires tangible examples that allow people to experience what we are describing. Nothing I write in this blog post can replace first hand-experience.
Our goal is to help people understand the feedback loop between education and contribution. If you expect an open-source project or decentralized initiative to succeed, it's not enough to just to say that people have a chance to contribute. People must feel like they are ready. They must be able to see enough of the big picture to understand the context of an initiative. They must also understand enough details about a project to confidently start working on it.
That's why there is such a deep connection between education, open source development, and decentralization.
Two Kinds of Technical Expertise
When it comes to technical contributions, people need to learn both technical background knowledge and project-specific details. For example, in our work with Blink Labs on Open-Source Cardano Go Libraries + Docs + Andamio CLI, we want developers to be able to build with Adder. In order to achieve this goal, developers need to know about Go (technical background knowledge) and about the role of a Cardano indexer like Adder (project-specific details).
What else have we learned?
Here is quick summary of some other things we've learned in our current research. Each of these points requires a follow-up post - and we'll publish these soon.
Governance of a project backlog requires careful attention
Separate from making sure that people are ready to contribute to projects, someone also has to decide which projects will get done and how resources will be allocated. In our work so far, we have been refining systems for how an open group can make these decisions. That work is ongoing at Gimbalabs, and anyone is welcome to join Gimbalabs Open Spaces governance sessions on Thursdays at 14:30 UTC.
So far, we do not have enough data to publish any conclusions - but we will be excited to share more as our work continues.
Open source tooling must be placed in context
Go doesn't stand on its own. While collaborating with Blink Labs, we learned that Go is optimized for building modular applications that are easy to scale. (For more technical details, see the previous post: Reflecting on Go Development).
By building tools like Adder, gOuroboros, Bursa, and the Cardano Go Node, Blink Labs is creating better options for building scalable, production grade applications for a variety of new use cases and stakeholders. To have real utility, in every one of these cases, Go is only a part of the application stack.
That's why we are building a suite of courses about Cardano development, including
- Plutus Project-Based Learning
- Mesh Project-Based Learning
- Cardano Go Project-Based Learning
- Aiken Project-Based Learning (launching October 2024)
- Marlowe Project-Based Learning (launching November 2024)
While collaborating with Blink Labs and Sidan Lab, we've learned together that there must be access points that connect from one course to another.
By recognizing this, we are able to take a holistic view of Cardano developer education. Each of the courses listed above will feature common projects. One course must link to another in a way that supports developers to understand the big picture.
Open Source projects are meaningful
Open source projects that benefit an entire ecosystem are "meaningful" but many have a high technical barrier to entry. It is one thing to idealize open-source development, and even to benefit from open source tooling - but it is a different challenge to make sure that such valuable tools are reliable and well-maintained.
All of our work will continue to address problems of open-source development that existed long before the Web3 era.
Even when there is a bit of funding, it's not always enough to pull the most talented developers away from more profitable projects. In our experiments with governance, it's hard to get people to spend money and pay themselves if they perceive that they might be "taking" those funds from someone else.
We will keep driving toward an era when open-source and educational initiatives have the funds necessary to deliver value without the risk of contributor burn-out. We're not going to stop building new ways to support the Cardano commons and to pioneer systems with relevance far beyond the Cardano ecosystem. Educators and open-source developers are natural collaborators - and whether you're in Web3 or not, the world needs both.