Originally published at: Mindshare Elections: Interview with Samyak Jain (jnsamyak) – Fedora Community Blog
This is a part of the Mindshare Elections Interviews series. Voting is open to all Fedora contributors. The voting period starts today, Tuesday 20th May and closes promptly at 23:59:59 UTC on Monday, 2 June 2025.
Interview with Samyak Jain
- FAS ID: jnsamyak
- Matrix Rooms: releng, admin, release-day, noc, fedora-social, devel
Questions
What is your background in Fedora? What have you worked on and what are you doing now?
I currently work as the lead for Release Engineering on the Community Linux Engineering team. I’ve held this position for several releases now, including most recently Fedora Linux 42. My involvement spans across the full release process—from branching, signing, and mass rebuilds to finalizing deliverables. Over time, I’ve taken up mentoring new contributors, writing documentation, and automating parts of the releng workflow.
Beyond release engineering, I’ve actively contributed to Fedora’s community outreach. I co-organized Fedora Hatch Pune 2022, which was part of the post-pandemic reintroduction of local Fedora events. Most recently, I served as one of the lead organizers for GNOME Asia 2024 in Bangalore, which was proudly sponsored by Fedora. I’ve also represented Fedora as a speaker at various conferences to promote open source collaboration and awareness.
My journey into Fedora began after contributing to Debian, where I worked on packaging Kotlin and some Ruby libraries. The welcoming nature of Fedora—especially through Fedora India meetups—really pulled me in and motivated me to give back even more.
Please elaborate on the personal “Why” which motivates you to be a candidate for Mindshare.
My motivation stems from the grassroots experiences I’ve had within the Fedora community—both as a contributor and as an organizer. Being part of event planning, release operations, and community discussions has shown me the immense value of unified outreach and communication.
Mindshare is the glue that binds the community side of Fedora—mentorship, events, DEI, and marketing. I want to bring a fresh and on-the-ground perspective to the committee. Especially now, with the new structure, refined responsibilities, and renewed focus on contributor support coming to Mindshare, I believe it’s the right time (after sharing a fair bit of organising events, talking to contributors, etc) to step up and help evolve how Fedora engages with its global community.
I’ve seen how transformative local events and inclusive spaces can be. My “why” is simple: to help Fedora be more visible, more welcoming, and more accessible to every potential contributor, no matter where they come from.
How would you improve Mindshare Committee visibility and awareness in the Fedora community?
To improve Mindshare’s visibility, we need to bridge the gap between what the committee can offer and what contributors experience/expect day to day.
One of the first areas I’d focus on is regional engagement, especially in APAC, which often gets overlooked in larger Fedora activities. Despite having a growing and enthusiastic contributor base, many APAC contributors struggle with visibility, support, or even awareness of what Mindshare or Fedora can provide them. I’d work to:
- Promote more locally driven events with easier access to support and funding.
- Help connect regional leaders with the global community to increase representation and inclusion.
- Encourage cross-community collaboration between Fedora and other open-source groups in APAC.
- Engage with 3rd level educational institutes to do events such as Assisted Install Days where we could go and directly help interested students install Fedora and get them using the OS immediately, this is something I learned as a part of being a debian community contributor, heck that is how I started back in days.
Secondly, I want to highlight a very thoughtful idea from my manager and mentor, Ant, who proposed a smoother and smarter onboarding process for new contributors. Too often, we lose interested people simply because there’s no follow-up or structured path after their first interaction. His roadmap for contributor onboarding outlines:
- A friendly follow-up system to retain engagement
- Defined goals and contribution checkpoints
During my term, I’d love to collaborate with Mindshare and community teams to pilot and scale this approach, making Fedora more welcoming, especially for those unsure of where to begin. How? Let’s implement the proposal for a month to assess its KPIs, followed by a retrospective
Lastly, visibility also means storytelling, showcasing success stories, contributions, and event highlights through Fedora Magazine, social media, and meetups, so contributors feel part of a living, breathing community. We have talented designers and visually proficient members of both CLE and the Fedora community who we could involve in this. Again, bridging that Red Hat – Fedora divide to increase engagement. Let’s begin with a small initiative, like a “Fedora Voice of the Month” feature. Perhaps we can share these narratives through an introductory article.
What part of Fedora do you think needs the most attention from the Mindshare Committee during your term?
The APAC region needs focused attention, both in terms of visibility and contributor recognition. While we have a strong and growing contributor base here, there are consistent barriers that limit participation in Fedora’s global landscape: time zone differences, limited access to funding, visa struggles, or simply a lack of regular local engagement.
Instead of large-scale funding pushes, I want to explore low-cost, high-impact ways (this is the new proposed scheme,e which I think will be very helpful) to:
- Promote Fedora visibility in local and regional FOSS events through community collaborations.
- Share regular community spotlights that recognize APAC contributors’ efforts.
- Encourage regional storytelling and contributor recognition aligned with Mindshare’s contributor advocacy role.
Another area I care deeply about is onboarding and retention. Many contributors join Fedora with enthusiasm but quietly step back due to unclear guidance or a lack of follow-up. I’ve been inspired to help implement a more structured and friendly contributor experience. During my term, I’d like to support:
- Clearly defined contributor tracks with simple, achievable milestones.
- Lightweight mentorship and feedback loops to keep contributors engaged.
- Outreach and onboarding material tailored to different skill levels (this is something on top my head, and need more brainstorming with community folks to see wha’s the feasible idea behind this to work it out, it can be a part of SOPs, videos, FAQs etc), interests, and even local languages for better accessibility—especially in APAC.
Finally, DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) is a value I deeply care about. I’ve been inspired by the amazing work led by Jona, Justin, and many others, whether it’s a welcoming social space or a campaign that uplifts stories from around the world. A small effort, like a video or social highlight, goes a long way. From my gathered knowledge from my new Mindshare hat on, I would like to bridge the gap between all the moving parts so the information remains centralised and easier for everyone to navigate!
For example, at GNOME Asia 2023 in Nepal, I attended my first Fedora DEI session. It was inspiring, but it also made me think: what’s next? How do we ensure that DEI isn’t just a message, but a movement? I’d like to help:
- Encourage regionally created DEI content—like stories, videos, or campaigns that reflect local cultures.
- Enable more interactive engagement, such as community-led DEI sprints or storytelling circles.
- Ensure new contributors, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds, feel a sense of belonging from day one.
Fedora thrives because of its people. And through better recognition, smarter onboarding, and deeper inclusion, I believe Mindshare can help bring the heart of Fedora closer to everyone.