Mentor Spotlight: Tyler Leonhardt

_posts/2018-08-21-mentor-spotlight-tyler-leonhardt.markdown

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+---
+layout: post
+title: "Mentor Spotlight: Tyler Leonhardt"
+date: 2018-08-21 17:00:00
+categories: spotlights
+tags: HackIllinois2018, mentors, featured
+author: Rohin Bhasin
+---
+
+Welcome to our second post in our series of mentor spotlights! In these interviews, we highlight some of the open source mentors that are central to HackIllinois.
+
+In this piece, we talk with Tyler Leonhardt, who was a mentor at HackIllinois 2018. Tyler spearheads multiple Open Source intiatives at Microsoft. He worked with students at HackIllinois on projects like VSCode and PowerShell and believes in building code to benefit the developer community.
+
+### Tell us about yourself. What is your background and what do you do now?
+
+I work on an open source project called [PowerShell](https://github.com/PowerShell). It's a cross-platform scripting language/shell that runs on top of .NET Core.
+
+###  How did you get started in tech?
+
+I've always been interested in computers since I was a little kid but up until the middle of high school, it was my hobby next to what I really wanted to do -- be an actor on Broadway. My sophomore year of high school, I realized that I didn't want to do acting professionally, so I took a chance and applied to be a Computer Science major in college (even though I had no experience). It ended up being one of the best decisions of my life, as I fell in love with the field. Computer Science is more than just a science, but a creative environment as well, and I think that's what really captures my passion.
+
+### What are some of the projects you are working on currently?
+
+I love working on developer tooling so most of what I do now is related to that.
+<br>
+[github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell](https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell)
+<br>
+[github.com/PowerShell/vscode-powershell](https://github.com/PowerShell/vscode-powershell)
+<br>
+[github.com/PowerShell/PowerShellEditorServices](https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShellEditorServices)
+
+And a new editor experience I'm working on is:
+[github.com/tylerl0706/monaco-powershell](https://github.com/tylerl0706/monaco-powershell)
+
+I do a ton of misc projects as well. Just take a look at [my GitHub](https://github.com/tylerl0706) 😊
+
+### What is open source/FLOSS to you? Why do you contribute to open source?
+
+I'm all about not reinventing the wheel. Open source prevents that by fostering an environment of collaboration which helps us make great generalized frameworks for solving specific problems. Anyone who is looking to solve that problem can leverage open source to solve it and possibly contribute back to generalize that project more. It's such a fascinating process.
+
+To me, I contribute to open source because I want folks to be able build off of/use what I make without having to pay for it. I'm really fortunate to work at a company that allows me to do that, while also making sure I'm financially stable.
+
+I also want to give the user the ability to open issues directly on the project and contact me directly because I really enjoy interacting with folks who use the thing I make.
+
+### What was your first interaction/impression of open source and how has your involvement in open source evolved over time?
+
+I honestly can't remember the first interaction… But one that stands out from my early days was working on a project called [NodeOS](https://github.com/nodeos/nodeos). The maintainer for the project (this guy [Jesús](https://github.com/piranna) that lives in Spain) was so nice and encouraging. Even though I knew basically nothing at the time, he helped me through submitting PRs. Those interactions with him really resonated with me and that inclusive attitude is what I strive for.
+
+### What do you recommend to beginners interested in Open Source?
+
+1. Find a project that you're interested in
+2. Find an issue that looks easy/is marked as easy
+3. Comment on the issue saying that you're interested in taking on the issue and if it's ok to ask a bunch of questions
+4. Ask a bunch of questions
+
+### What was your experience like as a mentor at HackIllinois?
+
+HackIllinois 2018 was an incredible experience. I met so many passionate students as well as some other mentors that I deeply respect in the open source community. I represented an open source project called PowerShell. It's a cross-platform scripting language/shell that runs on top of .NET Core. I worked with roughly 10 students and, at the end, 3 PRs were sent to the project and everyone came out having learned something 😊
+
+### What are you most excited about in technology and open source?
+
+Literally everything. There's always something new coming out.
+
+### What do you think about Microsoft's recent acquisition of GitHub?
+
+Considering I work at Microsoft and 100% of my work is on GitHub, I'm super optimistic about it. I think of all the big tech companies, Microsoft is the best candidate to acquire GitHub. The new CEO, Nat, is a veteran of the open source world and I trust his judgment.
+
+### Spaces or tabs?
+
+Whatever the linter says 😉 (Spaces tho)
+
+<center>&middot;&middot;&middot;</center><br>
+
+Check out Tyler's profile on GitHub at [github.com/tylerl0706](https://github.com/tylerl0706) and open an issue/PR on one of his projects if you're interested in getting involved. Stay tuned for more in our mentor spotlight series!