Two years ago I had the opportunity to become a part of OmniTI, where I have learned more than I imagined possible. I learned about how serious software engineering is done. I learned about scalability, and redundancy. I learned how to deploy web apps in environments where there’s no tolerance for failure, as well as how to deal gracefully with that failure when it happens.

I’ve had the chance to work with some great people, and on some amazingly cool and interesting projects.

Now, I have the opportunity to learn something new.

At the beginning of November, I will be joining the team at SourceForge, where I will be the (tentatively titled) Community Growth Hacker. I’ll be working with tens of thousands of Open Source communities, spanning many technologies, licenses, and nations, and helping them be successful.

I wrote yesterday about the many definitions of success. I expect that conversation to continue for years to come.

In my office, I have the center panel of this Dilbert comic strip. I’ve long since forgotten the remainder of the strip. That, in combination with listening to a speech by Steve Jobs late last week, gave me the little extra nudge I needed to take this risk. It’s a big change in what I’m doing 9-to-5, but it’s in line with where my passions have been for the last 15 years.

I have a lot to learn, and I welcome this exciting opportunity to learn from thousands of talented people, and hope to share with them some of my experience from the last decade in Open Source. I think I might have a few things to teach, but I know I have much still to learn.