Open Source Moves Fast: 10 Years of The Changelog
In the rapidly evolving world of open source software, there are few constants. But for the past decade, one has been The Changelog podcast. What began as a humble passion project in 2009 has grown into a podcasting empire spanning eight different shows and reaching millions of listeners each year.
The Changelog was founded by Adam Stacoviak with a straightforward mission: keeping developers up to date on the fast-moving open source world. In the early days, the format was a simple roundup of the latest happenings and releases across open source projects. But it wasn‘t long before the show started landing interviews with prominent figures in the community.
Some of the most pivotal moments in The Changelog‘s history came in those initial years. In 2009, Adam and original co-host Wynn Netherland interviewed Chris Wanstrath, a founder of an up-and-coming startup called GitHub. Chris came on the show to discuss GitHub‘s vision to become the center of open source collaboration.
This episode offers a fascinating time capsule from when GitHub was still an unproven underdog, long before its meteoric rise and eventual $7.5 billion acquisition by Microsoft. Looking back, it‘s a testament to The Changelog‘s knack for identifying the most important trends and technologies poised to shape the future of software.
After a few dozen episodes, Wynn departed The Changelog to take a job at GitHub itself, leaving Adam to continue on solo. Juggling a time-consuming hobby with a full-time job and family obligations took its toll, and The Changelog‘s future became uncertain. New episodes slowed to a trickle in 2012 and the show was on life support.
But in 2013, a devoted listener threw The Changelog a lifeline. Jerod Santo, a fellow developer and open source enthusiast, reached out to Adam and offered his assistance to keep the podcast alive. This set the stage for a rebirth.
Adam made the leap to turn The Changelog from a part-time hobby into a sustainable business. He left his job to focus full-time on building out the podcast, seeking long-term partnerships and sponsorships. With the help of supporters like Linode, Fastly, and Rollbar, Adam and Jerod transformed The Changelog into something much bigger.
Over the next several years, what was once a single podcast blossomed into an entire network. The Changelog team launched new shows focusing on specific software ecosystems and topics:
- JS Party – A weekly celebration of JavaScript and the web
- Go Time – Dedicated to the Go programming language
- Practical AI – Making artificial intelligence accessible
- Brain Science – Exploring the inner-workings of the human brain
- Backstage – Illuminating the human side of software development
- Founders Talk – In-depth interviews with startup founders
Each new show brought on passionate hosts who were experts in their respective domains. Episodes routinely featured deep technical discussions, debates over best practices, and shared learnings from real-world projects.
To accommodate the network‘s growth, The Changelog developed a unique model for some of its shows. JS Party, for example, maintained a large roster of panelists who would rotate between episodes. This kept the content fresh and varied, and provided opportunities to showcase more voices from the community.
| Show | Format | Episodes | Panelists |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Changelog | Interview | 447 | 2 |
| JS Party | Roundtable/Game Show | 206 | 18 |
| Go Time | Interview/Roundtable | 213 | 5 |
| Practical AI | Interview | 133 | 2 |
| Brain Science | Interview | 25 | 2 |
| Backstage | Interview | 72 | 1 |
| Founders Talk | Interview | 89 | 1 |
On the technical side, Adam and Jerod "drank their own champagne" by building The Changelog website using cutting-edge open source tools. They chose the Elixir language and Phoenix web framework to craft a lightning-fast site to house their sprawling back catalog of episodes. And true to The Changelog‘s core ethos, they open sourced the entire codebase on GitHub.
Of course, any successful venture is more than just the sum of its hosts and tech stack. Adam has described three key ingredients he credits for The Changelog‘s sustained growth and devoted listenership: consistency, community, and quality content (the "3 C‘s").
In terms of consistency, The Changelog has been a model of dependability. The team has reliably released new episodes every single week for the past 10 years – not an easy feat to maintain. Even amidst a global pandemic in 2020, they never missed a beat. That constancy keeps listeners subscribed and eager for each new installment.
The Changelog‘s vibrant community, meanwhile, is the result of deliberate efforts to engage with listeners. Adam and Jerod make a point to interact with their audience on social media, in chat rooms, and even in person at conferences (in pre-COVID times). Avid listeners regularly contribute to the show in numerous ways:
- Submitting picks for the popular "Ping" segment that concludes each episode
- Suggesting guests or topics for future interviews
- Participating in live tapings and Q&A sessions
- Joining the show‘s membership program to support the podcast directly
- Contributing code, bug reports, and feature requests to the open source website
Many former guests become recurring participants, returning to provide updates on their projects or weigh in on timely discussions. You‘ll often hear panelists refer to the show as a "family." By cultivating genuine connections, The Changelog has inspired incredible loyalty.
And last but certainly not least is the quality of the content. Week in and week out, The Changelog delivers in-depth interviews with the brilliant minds behind influential open source projects. Guests frequently remark that the podcast offers the most comprehensive and insightful coverage they‘ve encountered.
A key factor is the rigorous preparation that goes into every episode. Adam and Jerod thoroughly research each guest in advance, and develop thoughtful questions that go beyond surface-level details. The resulting conversations are substantive and illuminating. Nothing feels canned or rehearsed. There‘s a palpable chemistry, even with first-time guests.
The Changelog‘s commitment to quality extends to post-production. Episodes are tightly edited to keep the content focused and engaging. Detailed show notes, complete with hyperlinked references, provide valuable scaffolding for listeners. Adam even commissioned original music from mysterious composer Breakmaster Cylinder to give the podcast a distinctive sonic identity.
All of these efforts have paid quantifiable dividends. Over the past decade, episodes of The Changelog have been downloaded nearly 14 million times in aggregate. That includes individual episodes with heavy hitters like Linus Torvalds and Guido van Rossum racking up hundreds of thousands of downloads each.
Unsurprisingly, the majority of listeners hail from the United States, where the podcast is based. But a sizable international contingent tunes in from Europe, Asia, Oceania and beyond. Fans have reached out from countries as far-flung as Botswana, Pakistan, and Indonesia.
| Country | % of Listeners |
|---|---|
| United States | 60% |
| Germany | 6% |
| United Kingdom | 5% |
| Canada | 4% |
| Australia | 3% |
| France | 2% |
| Netherlands | 2% |
| Brazil | 2% |
| India | 1% |
| Russia | 1% |
| (Other) | 14% |
While exact rankings remain closely-guarded, it‘s safe to say that The Changelog performs exceptionally well on podcast charts, particularly in technology categories. Episodes frequently appear on the front page of directories like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Overcast. That visibility introduces the show to new listeners and drives further growth.
Beyond vanity metrics, however, Adam and Jerod have always aspired to make a meaningful impact on the open source community. And over the past decade, they‘ve done exactly that in a number of ways.
For one, The Changelog has played an invaluable role in raising awareness for projects and maintainers. An appearance on the podcast can drive a surge of attention and contributions to a repository. Countless developers have discovered new tools and frameworks from listening to the podcast.
Moreover, the show tackles pressing issues in the world of open source. Episodes have explored the challenges of sustainability, funding, mental health, burnout, diversity and inclusion. By surfacing important conversations and facilitating nuanced discussions, The Changelog has helped to advance progress across the ecosystem.
The Changelog team also puts their money where their mouth is. In 2017, they organized a fundraiser for Evan You, the creator of Vue.js, to support him in working on the project full-time. Donations from the Changelog community raised tens of thousands of dollars. A year later, the podcast promoted another successful campaign to help Henry Zhu, maintainer of the Babel compiler, achieve financial stability.
As The Changelog enters its second decade, there‘s plenty of reason for optimism about the future. For all the milestones they‘ve achieved, Adam and Jerod still see abundant opportunities for continued growth and evolution.
In terms of the core Changelog podcast, listeners can expect a steady stream of top-notch interviews with open source leaders. There will be deep dives on burgeoning technologies like WebAssembly, Deno, and Web3 protocols. The show won‘t shy away from complex and sometimes controversial topics, from crypto to AI ethics to tech regulation.
Meanwhile, the broader network of shows will keep pushing the envelope. New formats and personalities will be tested out. There‘s ample room for more niche technical podcasts serving specific ecosystems and disciplines. A Changelog show geared towards DevOps or IoT or cybersecurity isn‘t hard to imagine.
The rise of social audio apps like Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces presents another exciting frontier. The Changelog has already been an early adopter, hosting live discussions and community town halls. Listeners could very well start to influence the show‘s content in real-time, not just asynchronously.
Video content will continue to grow too, building on the success of initiatives like JS Party‘s Game Show. After all, some discussions truly benefit from screensharing and live coding.
But amidst all the shiny new toys, The Changelog‘s north star remains unchanged: to be the best source of information and inspiration for the open source community. Adam often refers back to a core tenet: "To make it, you‘ve got to love it." As long as the team stays true to their genuine passion and inquisitive spirit, there‘s no limit to where the next 10 years might lead.
So while open source may move fast, you can count on The Changelog to be right there, documenting all the action and propelling the ecosystem forward. Through all the changes, what listeners love most endures: the intimate conversations, the attention to detail, the quirky charm, the infectious enthusiasm.
The Changelog is so much more than a podcast. It‘s a vibrant community hub, a vector of positive change, a mirror reflecting the technology world‘s diversity and ingenuity. For developers across the globe, it‘s become an indispensable resource — one that will only become more vital in the years ahead.