Swastik Baranwal

Hi, I’m Swastik Baranwal, an Open Source Developer. I’ve contributed to several open source projects and collaborate with maintainers across the ecosystem.

My Journey

I was introduced to Open Source in 2019 through Hacktoberfest. That’s when I discovered The V Programming Language and saw people building an entirely new language. I was fascinated by their dedication.

Just 12 days in, I made my first PR by implementing some basic string methods. I was amazed by how committed the community was. I began contributing and collaborating with them while learning to use tools like git, make, GitHub, and other essential development utilities.

Now, five years later, I maintain several projects and help newcomers get into Open Source.

Projects I’m Involved In

I’ve been part of The V Programming Language since the beginning of my Open Source journey and serve as one of its main developers. I’ve implemented features like operator overloading, syntax highlighting, support for match branch expressions, and fixed several compiler issues. I remain highly involved in the community.

I also maintain a personal project called Box CLI Maker, which helps draw and use boxes in terminal applications. It’s used in several packages, notably in Kubernetes’s minikube. I even appeared on a podcast discussing it during GitHub Open Source Friday. I plan to continue improving and expanding the project.

I actively contribute to the WebDriver ecosystem—including Selenium, Appium, and WebDriverIO—as part of my work with LambdaTest OSPO. I’ve implemented many features and fixes, especially in the Python and Java bindings of Selenium, and work closely with other maintainers.

Beyond that, I’m involved with projects like the TODO Group, charm, nixpkgs, catppuccin, and others in areas such as Open Source Governance, Terminal UI, CLIs, WebDriver, Compilers, Low-Level Programming, and DevTools.

Challenges I’ve Faced as a Maintainer

One major challenge has been reviewing massive PRs with critical changes. These reviews take a lot of time, and I must ensure they don’t negatively affect the project.

Another pain point has been dealing with CI delays or failures, even when everything works locally. That wastes time and disrupts my workflow.

Onboarding new developers is particularly tough. It requires a lot of time explaining the workflow, helping them navigate the codebase, and often working alongside them.

And of course, limited or no sponsorship can impact maintainers significantly. It can force people to abandon their own projects to remain financially sustainable.

Ultimately, Open Source needs more maintainers to pass on knowledge and help projects thrive independently of their original creators. That’s how we ensure sustainability.

How Contributors Can Support Maintainers

In my view, contributors can help in both code and non-code ways.

Coders can add features, fix bugs, and improve the project technically.

Non-code contributors can support documentation, keep guidelines and websites up to date, enhance design, and help manage changelogs.

Financial support also matters. Sponsorships give maintainers more time to work on their projects.

While this varies with the scale of the project, even small non-code contributions can make a big difference.

The Impact of AI on Open Source

AI’s ability to write code has greatly influenced Open Source—both positively and negatively.

On the plus side, contributors can work faster and projects evolve more quickly. Tasks get completed faster, and onboarding becomes less time-consuming.

However, AI has also increased the volume of spammy issues and PRs. Some people want to contribute but skip learning the project’s workings, relying on AI-generated code that often misses the mark. Reviewing irrelevant PRs wastes time and energy.

AI is still new, and we maintainers are figuring out how best to harness it—while also managing the downsides.

Growing Communities

While I mainly focus on developing Open Source projects, I also support local communities and help them get into Open Source.

I volunteer with FOSS United, a non-profit that promotes and strengthens the Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) ecosystem in India.

FOSS United organizes meetups, city conferences, an annual conference, college events, and hackathons. It also offers grants to Indian Open Source projects.

I help organize meetups for FOSS United Delhi, a city chapter. I manage venue arrangements, speaker outreach, and community engagement for these events.

I believe FOSS United will become a foundational pillar of India’s Open Source ecosystem. I’m proud to be part of it and honored to have been elected to its Governance Board.

Connect with Me

Want to see what I’m working on next?

If you like my open-source work, then feel free to sponsor me on GitHub via https://github.com/sponsors/Delta456

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This story was published under CC BY-SA by the author.