Tom Sadler, Joel Keers – A fork load of maintenance - forking a key dependency #FOSSBack

This talk examines the BBC’s journey in maintaining a fork of dash.js, a JavaScript library essential for media playback in their web and connected TV applications. The speakers, Tom Sadler and Joel Keers, delve into the motivations behind the fork, the trade-offs involved, and the strategies implemented to minimize maintenance overhead, such as making upstream contributions and fostering community engagement. Attendees will gain insights into the costs and benefits of forking open source projects and learn effective methods to lessen the burdens associated with maintaining a custom version of a key dependency.