rn-129: include interview with Ayush Chandekar

Author: sivaraam

rev_news/drafts/edition-129.md

@@ -73,9 +73,214 @@ This edition covers what happened during the months of October and November 2025
 
  Bhavik thanked Chris for the helpful explanations.
 
-<!---
-## Developer Spotlight:
--->
+## Developer Spotlight: Ayush Chandekar
+
+_Editor’s note: This edition features a retrospective interview with a
+contributor who contributed to Git through a mentoring program.
+We hope the reflections shared by the GSoC contributor will
+provide an insightful perspective that benefits the community.
+As always, we welcome your thoughts and feedback!_
+
+***Who are you and what do you do?**
+
+ I am Ayush Chandekar, a GSoC 2025 alumnus under Git, my project was
+ titled '[Refactoring in order to reduce Git’s global state](https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/programs/2025/projects/no7dVMeG)'.
+ Currently I am an engineering undergraduate at IIT Roorkee,
+ I consider myself to be a jack of all trades, with interests
+ ranging from low-level programming to game development,
+ cybersecurity, and blockchain. I am also a member of
+[SDSLabs](https://sdslabs.co/), a student run technical club
+ at my university which also focuses on making software and
+ tech accessible for the campus.
+
+ As a kid I always enjoyed tinkering with computers and would
+ spend majority of my time on games, but slowly I started enjoying
+ the chance that development gave me to be the one behind the scene,
+ controlling and making stuff which works. My approach is driven by
+ curiosity and a desire to understnd how things really function.
+ Whenever I start learning something new, I naturally end up going
+ deeper and deeper into the smaller, niche details, not because
+ I have to, but because it genuinely fascinates me. I enjoy peeling
+ back the layers, figuring out the underlying mechanisms, and
+ understanding the “why” behind everything I work on. It’s that
+ curiosity that keeps pulling me into new domains and motivates me
+ to keep exploring. Apart from this, for fun, I like to participate
+ in hackathons, GameJams and Cyber security Capture-The-Flag(CTFs)
+ competitions. Outside of tech, I enjoy listening to music, brewing
+ coffee, skateboarding, and learning guitar, they help me unwind
+ and keep a balance beyond the screen.
+
+***How did you initially become interested in contributing to Git,
+ and what motivated you to choose it as your GSoC project?**
+
+ I wanted to start my journey of contributing to open source projects.
+ Before that, I was working on small C projects, and that’s when I
+ came across Git. I was immediately drawn to understanding how
+ developers actually work on Git itself. The workflow felt new to me,
+ kind of old-school in a good way, and it definitely took some time
+ to get used to, but I really enjoyed the process. As I dug deeper,
+ I realized how Git's internals work, and that made me even more
+ curious. The idea that I could learn from such a mature codebase,
+ while also improving a tool used globally, was extremely motivating.
+ It felt like the perfect place to challenge myself, improve my skills,
+ and contribute to a big project.
+
+***Is there any aspect of Git that you now see differently after
+ having contributed to it?**
+
+ It is about how there are so many different commands. Before my GSoC,
+ I was only aware of the usual `git push`, `git pull`, `git clone`,
+ etc. Now, I know many more commands like `git bisect`, `git range-diff`,
+ etc. I even understand how some of them work internally. Contributing
+ to Git really opened my eyes to the depth and complexity of the tool.
+
+***How do you balance your contributions with other responsibilities
+ like work or school?**
+
+ Balancing contributions with other responsibilities is a bit
+ challenging. As an undergrad student, I’m involved in various
+ activities at my university, including sports and other commitments,
+ so my schedule gets busy. But whenever I sit down to work or study,
+ I get very absorbed in it, and I often end up spending long stretches
+ of time without even realizing it. That focus helps me make steady
+ progress even with a packed routine.
+
+***Can you share how GSoC helped enhance your technical and
+ non-technical skills (like communication, project management,
+ etc.)?**
+
+ GSoC helped me grow in both technical and non-technical areas.
+ On the technical side, I became much more comfortable reading
+ large codebases, debugging tricky issues, and writing clean,
+ well-structured patches. I also learned the importance of clear
+ and detailed commit messages. On the non-technical side, GSoC
+ improved my communication skills a lot, especially explaining
+ my ideas, asking the right questions, and discussing feedback
+ with the community. It also taught me how to plan my work, break
+ tasks into smaller steps, and manage my time over a long project.
+ Overall, it made me more confident in collaborating in an open-source
+ environment. I would also like to thank my mentor, Christian, for
+ his guidance and patience throughout the project. His feedback
+ played a big role in helping me improve.
+
+***What was your biggest takeaway or learning from GSoC that
+ you now apply regularly in your work?**
+
+ My biggest takeaway from GSoC was the importance of writing
+ clear and detailed commit messages. Before the program, I
+ didn’t pay much attention to how a commit was explained,
+ but contributing to Git made me realise how essential it
+ is. A good commit message not only describes what changed
+ but also why the change was necessary, making it much easier
+ for reviewers and future contributors to understand the context.
+
+ Another major learning was understanding how to handle reviews
+ from multiple people. In the Git community, different contributors
+ often suggest different things, and figuring out how to take in
+ all that feedback while still taking ownership of my work was a
+ big shift for me. I learned how to look at each suggestion carefully,
+ understand the reasoning behind it, and decide what improves the
+ patch. It also taught me when to explain my choices and when to
+ adjust my approach. This experience helped me become more confident
+ in iterating on my work and communicating clearly, while staying
+ responsible for the decisions I make.
+
+***What was the biggest challenge you faced during your contributions
+ to Git, and how did you overcome it?**
+
+ There were a few challenges which I faced. Initially, it was
+ getting accustomed to the mailing list workflow as it was new to
+ me. Most of the challenges were making sure that the community
+ accepted your patches. A lot of people reviewed my patches and
+ got different responses. Here, I learnt to take ownership of
+ my patches.
+
+***Have you thought about mentoring new GSoC / Outreachy students?**
+
+ Yes, I’ve definitely thought about mentoring future GSoC students,
+ most likely as a co-mentor. I feel it would be a great way to
+ give back to the community and support newcomers the same way
+ I was supported.
+
+***If you could remove something from Git without worrying about
+ backwards compatibility, what would it be?**
+
+ It would be removing the global state from Git, which was my
+ GSoC project and is also an ongoing effort in the community
+ for the maintainability and modularity of the codebase.
+
+***What upcoming features or changes in Git are you particularly
+ excited about?**
+
+ I've been following Patrick's [patch series on `git history`](https://public-inbox.org/git/[email protected]/).
+ I am excited for that feature to release.
+
+***What is your favorite Git-related tool/library, outside of Git
+ itself?**
+
+ I have heard of [Jujutsu](https://jj-vcs.github.io/jj/latest/),
+ I haven't tried it yet but it seems cool, other than that
+ sticking to my essentials, GitLab and GitHub.
+
+***What is your toolbox for interacting with the mailing list and for
+ development of Git?**
+
+ I just use Gmail to view and reply mails most of the time. But when
+ it comes to sending patches, I use the good ol' `git send-email`.
+ I had set up [mutt](http://www.mutt.org/) once, but didn't use it
+ as much.
+
+***How do you envision your own involvement with Git or other open
+ source projects in the future?**
+
+ I don't have anything planned out in particular but I do really
+ admire the way my mentor and other contributors in the organisation
+ contribute, open source is something which basically runs the world,
+ organisations like Git and Linux function because of collective and
+ voluntary efforts and they are what makes the world as it is today
+ and carrying that forward I want to contribute in a way which makes
+ softwares accessible to everyone and help build up on these
+ foundational blocks.
+
+***What is your advice for people who want to start Git development?
+ Where and how should they start?**
+
+ Git is an amazing project to learn all aspects of development.
+ It helps you to learn/improve your C and debugging skills. Another
+ important thing is how you get to work with different contributors
+ in the community. You get reviews from everyone which helps you
+ understand different perspectives. To start with, I would suggest
+ going through this page called '[Hacking Git](https://git.github.io/Hacking-Git/)'
+ and checking different articles mentioned there along with the
+[Contribution Guidelines](https://git-scm.com/docs/MyFirstContribution).
+ It is quite difficult to decide what to work on initially, as there
+ are no traditional issues as other organizations have. Being active
+ on the mailing list, checking out the ongoing topics might help you
+ decide what to work on. Everyone on the mailing list and discord is
+ very friendly and is always looking forward to help you out so feel
+ free to ask if you have any doubts :)
+
+***Would you recommend other students or contributors to participate
+ in the GSoC, Outreachy or other mentoring programs, working on Git?
+ Why? Do you have advice for them?**
+
+ As I answered before, it is sometimes difficult to decide what you
+ can work on. I feel that for Git, since projects are already listed
+ on the [GSoC and Outreachy pages](https://git.github.io/SoC-2025-Ideas/),
+ it takes away the pain of figuring out where to start. You just need
+ to pick a project that interests you and then spend some time studying
+ it. Other than that, you’re also mentored by someone experienced in
+ Git development, and with their guidance you’re able to follow best
+ practices and learn a lot of new things. These programs really help
+ build confidence, especially when contributing to a large and complex
+ codebase. You also get to improve your communication skills through
+ discussions, reviews, and patch iterations. And most importantly, it
+ opens doors for future contributions, networking, and long-term
+ involvement in open source. My advice would be to learn to be patient
+ with reviews. A lot of people in the community contribute voluntarily,
+ so you may not get reviews on your patches quickly, and that’s
+ completely normal.
+
 
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