3 ms·

>To riff on this I think this weird expectation of projects to "grow" is a side effect of the increasing corporate influence on F/OSS. Or it's because in the e

• hardwaresofton 6y ago
  Right, but human propensity to seek status hasn't changed, and if anything it's been amplified by corporate interests more than simply just the internet's ability to connect. > instagram or twitter follower counts. Being a FOSS developer doesn't remove all the usual human drives and desires that most people have. This is corporate influence. Those companies are manipulating that innate status-seeking behavior and amplifying it. In my opinion most F/OSS developers or most creative subcultures clout chase in different ways but it's usually not so overt and it certainly isn't trying to show "hockey stick growth" on slide #2. I'd argue that for most F/OSS developers making cool (and maybe some overly complicated) things used to be the main way to clout chase, until some corporations came along and helped us "connect" but also sought to make profit from those connections and encourage the connecting. Let's take HN for an example -- how do people clout chase here? HN's major moderation innovation/advantage is that they've tried their hardest to make clout chasing here equivalent to submitting interesting projects/products/thought/discussion. I'm sure they have the metrics internally, but I just never see HN bragging about how much "engagement" they get.