From Zero to Maintainer: My Open Source Journey with Backstage

My path to becoming a maintainer in the Backstage project wasn’t paved with years of prior open source experience. As a student interning at Red Hat, I started with a relatively fresh perspective. This is the story of that journey – how I navigated the complexities of Backstage, with the support of its community, allowing me to grow and learn, and how open source can empower anyone to do the same. Whether you’re new to open source or a seasoned developer, I believe you’ll find something valuable here. For those just starting out, I hope this inspires you to take that first step. And for experienced developers, I hope this offers a fresh perspective – a look at how a new contributor navigates a complex project, and perhaps, a reminder of our own beginnings.