4 ms·
The title is kinda unclear for someone non-English/US, for me office hours only means the actual hours when things are worked on (rather than any kind of availa
by whizzter 6y ago
The title is kinda unclear for someone non-English/US, for me office hours only means the actual hours when things are worked on (rather than any kind of availability time).
So skimming the title it quickly I read it as "Open source projects should run on office hours" since my mind filled that in, kinda implied that someone in another part of the world should adjust their life hours to contribute to OSS.
(Yes after reading the article i realized that it was wrong but this is about the title)
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- GordonS 6y agoI am a native speaker (well, Scottish, so some may disagree ;), and I didn't get the title either. Maybe it's an American thing, by "office hours" to me means 9-5, local time - you know, the kind of hours that people typically work in an office.
- RBerenguel 6y agoTo me (non-native, Spain), I read "office hours" as the time when I was a teacher in university: you have a set period of time where you are marked as available in your office for student consultation. I'm pretty sure that's what "office hours" is supposed to mean, although in Spanish and Catalan the word used would literally translate as "consultation hours" (horas/hores de consulta).
- joshuaissac 6y agoThe phrase is used in the same sense at universities in England.
- phone_book 6y agoThis is the same in the US based on my experience
- umanwizard 6y agoThe term "office hours" in American English can mean either of these concepts, but in the current context it clearly means the one you suggest ("horas de consulta").
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- TulliusCicero 6y agoIn American English it can mean that too. The meaning of "certain hours where you work" and "certain hours where you have an 'open office'" overlap enough to be confusing, yes.
- imtringued 6y agoWhen you run your own organization you can set your own office hours. > you know, the kind of hours that people typically work in an office. It's exactly the same thing. There is no difference. This guy "works" in a home office on his project and he does so by talking with contributors (his customers essentially) instead of just sending a message on a mailing list or by posting on an issue tracker. Where do you see the difference between this and a lawyer being open from 9-5 for customers? They are still his office hours and "office hours" primarily matter to outsiders who have to schedule an appointment.
- umanwizard 6y agoNo, this is actually not what it means. "Office hours" has two distinct meanings: one is the hours you are in the office. That is not what is meant here. The other meaning, which is what is meant here, is specifically designated times when experts make themselves available for random questions about the thing they're an expert on. For example, I work on a project that heavily depends on "library foo". The guy who wrote "library foo" (who is an employee of my company) holds "office hours" for one hour every Monday, where he commits to being in a Zoom call that other employees can join to discuss questions about "library foo". That does not mean he only works for one hour a week.
- msravi 6y agoI'm not a native english speaker either, but typically, in American usage, "office hours" refers to published, allocated hours for someone, such as a professor at a university, to allow walk-ins where (s)he can answer students' questions 1-on-1 above and beyond the classroom hours. I guess this expands to other settings too.
- matkoniecz 6y agoI recognized that it refers to some regular hours when person may be contacted for discussion. Still, I am deeply opposed to formulating in ways that suggests any form of obligation/entitlement/expectation. Though I expect that in many cases it would be a good and useful idea!
- bregma 6y agoThe difference in usage is not localized English: it's cultural student/academic vs. employed. To a student with no professional experience, "office hours" are posted times when a professor is available to further mentor and guide a student. "office hours" are designated times outside of the scheduled class times and professors are generally required to provide them so others can benefit. To a professional and others with white-collar jobs, "office hours" are hours are times when an employee must be seen by a manager to be considered working. Times outside of the scheduled work times are called "outside of office hours" and employees are generally expected to provides them so others can benefit.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- okamiueru 6y agoTo clarify the distinction is both academic AND language/culture. The concept of professorial office hours, and calling it "office hours" is not universal to all of academia, as people there speak different languages, and use then different words for things. Even if they might also use English, it doesn't mean they would call it that.
- ddoeth 6y agoI think the authors explanation with the german word "Sprechstunde" is really great. There is a clear distinction between "Arbeitszeit" which is the working time and the "Sprechstunde" which is the time someone is available to talk to.