From Burnout to Balance Embracing Yuru Participation in OSS, Naruhiko Ogasawara, #FOSSASIA 2026

Duration: 11:35 1113 transcript words EN summary

Video summary

Naruhiko Ogasawara, a security engineer and long-time open source enthusiast from Japan, shares his personal journey of stepping away from the LibreOffice community due to severe burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic. For over a decade, he was deeply involved in translation work and organizing events like the Open LibreOffice Asia Summit, but the shift to virtual interactions removed the casual social elements that previously kept him engaged. The absence of informal dinners and face-to-face conversations led to accumulated tension, exacerbated by high-stakes conflicts between individual contributors and large ecosystem companies. Feeling isolated and overwhelmed by the pressure to maintain his previous level of contribution, he eventually stepped down not because he lost interest in open source, but because he felt alone and unable to cope with the intense responsibility associated with core development tasks. The speaker identifies several key drivers of burnout within the open source ecosystem, including an endless stream of unresolved issues, the rise of AI-generated pull requests that increase developer workload, and the heavy emotional burden placed on maintainers. He emphasizes that stepping back is not a sign of weakness but a necessary response to strong responsibility, yet returning to the community proved difficult due to fears of unmet expectations and the inability to replicate past roles immediately. To overcome this barrier, Ogasawara adopted a strategy of reconnecting through low-pressure social interactions with friends and attending events without the obligation to speak or lead, which gradually restored his confidence and sense of belonging within the global open source world. Central to his recovery is the concept of "Yuru Participation," a Japanese term meaning loose, gentle, or low-pressure involvement that removes fixed schedules and rigid obligations. This approach validates small actions such as fixing typos, leaving comments on issue trackers, contributing to translations, or simply showing up to a meeting as genuine forms of participation. By lowering the entry barrier and creating a safer atmosphere where casual contributions are welcomed, communities can support both returning contributors and new casual participants while relieving pressure from core developers. Ogasawara argues that these small, flexible engagements are essential for sustaining community health and ensuring that individuals feel welcome regardless of their current capacity or energy levels. In conclusion, the talk delivers a powerful message to anyone struggling with burnout: it is a common experience rather than a personal failure, and taking time to rest is a right that should be respected. The open source community thrives when it widens its definition of contribution to include gentle, non-linear paths back in, allowing individuals to return at their own pace and in their own way. Ogasawara's story illustrates that even minimal involvement provides significant benefits to the ecosystem, fostering resilience and a supportive environment where everyone can contribute meaningfully without fear of judgment or pressure to perform immediately.

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I'm a security engineer in Japan from Shift Security Incorporated. But my talk is not as a so security guy, but one of the long time uh open source enthusiast. Okay, let's go. Why this talk? I think open source encourage people. This is a passionate people, but no one very few people talk about the burnout. Yeah. Uh this is we really talk about it, but in COVID-19 a lot of people disappeared without any things any things talk talks. So this is a so very typical issue, I think. So I want to share my story and so because so I'm one of them. I uh while COVID-19 I feel exhausted and quit all of the open source activity. But now I'm here. So this is a my story and step down to from the open source uh community to and then back to the open source community right now. So my story I the LibreOffice community I I had been the LibreOffice community mainly 10 years ago 10 years or latest. I forgot that actually, but mostly in the translation work or local community organization. I mean the some kind of the event or sometimes the global event. We say open LibreOffice Asia Summit or something. And but COVID-19 stopped in-person event. So, I feel so no casual talk. No I So, no casual talk and no chairs. No casual dinner or something like that. So, everyone is gone and small tension accumulate. Then I feel I'm really exhausted about the people. I'm LibreOffice community from LibreOffice community. LibreOffice community is a now it's a facing the very difficult situation. One of the big ecosystem company has a strong enough. But so others So, this is a kind of the tension of with the with the ecosystem company and the individual committers. So, long very long email thread we have. But my English is not so good. So, I cannot understand anything, but I feel tension is too high. That's why I feel exhausted and I step down to the from the LibreOffice community stepped down from the LibreOffice community. I did not leave because of code. I left because I felt alone. Why Why burnout happens in open source open source software, yeah, or open source community? One is too much work. No ending issues. Linus, so we have AI stroke. I mean that someone send a maybe pull request with AI. So, developer is exhausted to handle these kinds of the issues and strong responsibility. For example, if I stop the commitment, something stop or or such kind of the strong responsibility is a very common cause of the uh burnout. And how to say, I need to break. I needed to break. So, it So, burnout is a not weakness. It is a some kind of some kind of a strong responsibility. Yeah. Uh and the hard part is the how coming back. I still care about open source, but I didn't know how to return. But it was So, example, uh I was afraid of expectations. I mean that For example, if I go back to the community, I I wonder how I can as a previous I can work as a previous. So, For example, so I work the lot of things about the translation, organize event or something like that. But if I go back, you can do as the same position or some something like that. So, this is my heart. So, this idea stopped me. But so luckily to say, I have still have a lot of friends in open source world, not only the Japan, but also worldwide. So, I started to just meet to the friend. Um uh to to attend the event to just meet to friend. And uh Then, I support I supported uh event organizer. He's a also friend. And something something. This kind of the small participation is a very good for me. So, I can So, for example, I attend the FOSDEM Asia 2024 uh in Singapore. And uh this is just my participation. I don't have a talk about this, but uh nowadays, so I can talk with uh old Is time is it okay? Anyway, so this is uh How [snorts] can I go go back? So, I want to share the idea of Yuru participation. Yuru is a Japanese word. Uh this is a loose or low pressure or gentle in Japanese. And it means uh no obligation, small contribution is okay. Uh small contributions are good okay and no fixed schedule. Just being there is participation. It is uh so very uh loose participation is uh uh important to the open source community. Uh why your participation works uh it's a low pressure. Uh people stay longer uh because of the low pressure, people stay longer. And small actions still help. I mean the uh I the uh so the some ex- um Uh sorry. Anyway, >> [laughter] >> uh people feel more welcome. Uh light participation is still real participation. For example, uh fix a small typo in the uh global typo or Japanese local typo or something. Uh leave a comment in issue tracker. I have reduced uh this issue or something. Uh attend a community meeting casually. Just attend. Not doing something more. And contribute to translation or documentation. Uh join low pressure group. I had uh had a translation cafe. Just being here and trans- doing translation something uh it's okay. Uh such kind of the uh low pressure group is uh uh perfectly uh works well. Um and share knowledge on your own experience as me. Okay and benefits of the community is the lower entry barrier. And not only is comeback people, Just uh so casual uh contributor or something. And less [snorts] dependence or human task. This kind of small works helps the core contributors. So, and safer safer atmosphere. We provide a safer atmosphere and Yeah. So, message those who are tired. Burnout is common, not only your problem. So, it's not shameful. Your little participation helps helps you. And of course, you can return anytime. If you feel the tired, you have a right to take a rest. But we welcome to come back to here. This is a your place. So, this is a so my um message. Key takeaways. Burnout is common and understandable. Recovery begins with gentle participation. Communities must widen the definition of contribution and your participation benefit to everyone. You can return at your pace in your way. Oh. Maybe finish? No? >> [laughter] >> Okay. Thank you for listening. Any question, comment, or something? >> [applause]