3 ms·
> in particular, you have no power to make the users polite. So very (and unfortunately) true. However they also have no power to make you do the thing they ne
by mugsie 7y ago
> in particular, you have no power to make the users polite.
So very (and unfortunately) true. However they also have no power to make you do the thing they need straight away, or ever.
> Even if you put hard work in it, you sacrifice a bit of your life.
And this is bad. We need to move the needle away from this. It is incredibly exclusionary
I am a younger person, no kids, in a job where I was able to negotiate for open source maintenance time. By making "sacrifice" a requirement it makes it off putting for someone with kids, or working in a job that has them working long hours, or working multiple jobs.
> But the user, well, they just are what they are, software can't fix that.
No, software can't fix it. but highlighting the problem, and letting people possibly see what they are doing is not useful may change the user.
I have been a maintainer of a project for a long time, and I get everything from people pinging me in our IRC channel, to DMing me, to asking if I give them my skype ID so I can call into a bridge to help them debug an issue at midnight. We need to highlight this is not OK.
Personally, I really like the PowerDNS rule for open source support [1] - it sets expectations, and the base requirements from someone looking for help.
> the success, at least to me, was measured by the number of users
That is a valid metric, but just one. I personally measured the success of the project based on what people were using it (e.g. I would rather wikimedia vs 20 startups), but that metric is really person specific.
1 - https://blog.powerdns.com/2016/01/18/open-source-support-out-in-the-open/ https://blog.powerdns.com/2016/01/18/open-source-support-out...
- mikekchar 7y ago> By making "sacrifice" a requirement it makes it off putting for someone with kids, or working in a job that has them working long hours, or working multiple jobs. I think I understand what you are saying, but perhaps you are talking at cross purposes with the OP. I don't think anyone thinks that sacrifice is required from the perspective that you owe it to anyone to do anything in particular. But, as you know from maintaining a project, what you do is always a trade off. Even if you negotiate time for open source maintenance in your work, you may suffer in your career compared to the person who focuses only on climbing the ladder. In fact, I do not allow my work to pay for my free software work -- because freedom is the thing I want from that work. People who pay usually expect something in return and I seriously am not inclined to give it to them (especially since the demands are usually after the fact). There are many people who think you can have it all. If you spend hundreds of hours working on free software, working on not-free software, playing video games, watching reality shows, typing replies into HN, etc, etc, that time is spent. That's time you don't get to spend with your kids. Or your spouse. Or walking in the woods. It's important that people who choose to do these things actually choose, I think. It's all too easy to get to a certain age and realise, "Well, crap. That's not what I wanted to have done". So, yes, it's a sacrifice. You don't get to do it for free. Someone with kids, or working in a job that has long hours, or working multiple jobs often will not choose to spend hundreds of house writing free software. They have more important things to do, and that's totally OK.