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I'm getting downvoted by people who don't like the reality, I guess; I'm just pointing out the truth as I have experienced it myself. About what you said, most

by mahouse 11y ago

I'm getting downvoted by people who don't like the reality, I guess; I'm just pointing out the truth as I have experienced it myself. About what you said, most projects, if not all, will be struck by hordes of users asking for all kinds of things, some of them will be reasonable, some of them will not. Never hesitate to say NO to a user, even if he's written a patch already. Never merge things out of pity. Another important thing: if the project grows large enough, it'll attract collaborators that, despite their best intentions, screw up often. Obviously you must be friendly towards them, but be sure to make it clear when they've screwed up. You will also find collaborators that not only screw up often, but also defend themselves and think they are always right. Do not hesitate to make it clear that that's not the place for such behaviour and if they don't improve kick them out, outrightly or in a subtle way.

pflanze 11y ago
> Do not hesitate to make it clear that that's not the place for such behaviour Perhaps the point (of the cowboy image, perhaps with regards to self reliance) is that you can tell them that you decide, since you started the project and are still its leader, and that since you think the contribution is screwed up, you won't merge it. This explanation does not contain anything about the contributor's behaviour. Well I guess I don't know about what that part of your example entailed :) Anyway, thanks for the comment!
x0x0 11y ago
It's not an immutable rule. Communities get the behavior they tolerate.
ZenoArrow 11y ago
> "I'm getting downvoted by people who don't like the reality, I guess; I'm just pointing out the truth as I have experienced it myself." I don't doubt that this is what you've found to be true, but I agree with how nostrademons put it, it's self-fulfilling. Open source projects don't have to be adversarial, though some of them certainly are. What sets the projects listed here apart from the more adversarial projects? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10642500 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10642500
mwfunk 11y ago
It sounds like you are trying to give honest, pragmatic advice, in which case your downvotes are unfair. However, usually when people give that particular advice what they're really saying is that the bad behavior from other people is OK and that the person who feels bad because of it just needs to lighten up. It's sort of like when someone says, "99% of humanity is too sensitive!" The ONLY people who say that are people who go around pissing off other people on a regular basis and it never occurs to them that the problem might be with their own social skills and not 99% of humanity. So, when someone's response to someone else getting upset over jerks on the Internet is "you should get thicker skin", it's easy to jump to the conclusion that it's coming from a troll rather than someone honestly trying to help a fellow adult. Based on this comment it sounds like you meant it in good faith and were just trying to help the OP out.

by mahouse 11y ago

pflanze 11y ago

> Do not hesitate to make it clear that that's not the place for such behaviour Perhaps the point (of the cowboy image, perhaps with regards to self reliance) is that you can tell them that you decide, since you started the project and are still its leader, and that since you think the contribution is screwed up, you won't merge it. This explanation does not contain anything about the contributor's behaviour. Well I guess I don't know about what that part of your example entailed :) Anyway, thanks for the comment!

x0x0 11y ago

It's not an immutable rule. Communities get the behavior they tolerate.

ZenoArrow 11y ago

> "I'm getting downvoted by people who don't like the reality, I guess; I'm just pointing out the truth as I have experienced it myself." I don't doubt that this is what you've found to be true, but I agree with how nostrademons put it, it's self-fulfilling. Open source projects don't have to be adversarial, though some of them certainly are. What sets the projects listed here apart from the more adversarial projects? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10642500 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10642500

mwfunk 11y ago

It sounds like you are trying to give honest, pragmatic advice, in which case your downvotes are unfair. However, usually when people give that particular advice what they're really saying is that the bad behavior from other people is OK and that the person who feels bad because of it just needs to lighten up. It's sort of like when someone says, "99% of humanity is too sensitive!" The ONLY people who say that are people who go around pissing off other people on a regular basis and it never occurs to them that the problem might be with their own social skills and not 99% of humanity. So, when someone's response to someone else getting upset over jerks on the Internet is "you should get thicker skin", it's easy to jump to the conclusion that it's coming from a troll rather than someone honestly trying to help a fellow adult. Based on this comment it sounds like you meant it in good faith and were just trying to help the OP out.