I'm a huge cyclist. I discovered cycling about 10 years ago, and it has been a huge part of my life ever since.
In cycling, there's a concept of the "peloton." It's essentially the group of people you ride with who help you over long distances. Often, riders in the peloton will sacrifice their own potential to win the race to help another rider across the finish line first. Most of the famous cyclists agree that their wins couldn't have come without the help of the peloton.
To me, open source is also about a peloton. There are tens, hundreds, thousands of people who help on projects that don't get recognition in order to keep it alive and healthy. Many people over hours, days, months, and years make contributions of all sizes in order to keep the project going. I myself have stood on the shoulder of giants with the programs I have managed. I have leaned on friends, colleagues, and strangers for help on everything I have done in one form or another.
No project is done alone, and most projects are better for having many voices and ideas about how things should be approached and executed. I have learned so much from colleagues who have given me constructive criticism as well as compliments.
Open source is a worldwide community of opinions and contributions and I have grown in my career for having been a part of it. My peloton is too numerous to count, but I am thankful to each and every one of you for the guidance along the way.
