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> an open source maintainer absolutely could ignore even critical bugs If the maintainer is a solopreneur, whose source of income is a paid SaaS version of the
by evanelias 6y ago
> an open source maintainer absolutely could ignore even critical bugs
If the maintainer is a solopreneur, whose source of income is a paid SaaS version of the open source project, then no they typically cannot ignore critical bugs.
> Those people clamoring for attention may be annoyed and frustrated with you, but that doesn't answer the question as to why that's a problem unless you choose for it to be.
Out of curiosity have you ever maintained a decently popular single-primary-maintainer open source project? How about one with a SaaS or commercial version?
Frequent frustrating interactions with users isn't exactly beneficial to one's sense of motivation, at least in my experience (which mirrors the original article quite closely).
- musingsole 6y agoCommercial products ignore critical bugs all the time. A bug being an impact to income is a relative thing for everyone, corporations to sole proprietors. As is response to your customers/community. Not everyone needs or at all provides stellar customer service. Maintainers may have a degree of involvement necessitated by their business needs. However, the loudest people screaming for support are very rarely even the same niche as those funding a project. So ignore the whining; listen to the constructive bits if they're there. Delete messages en masse and move on with your life.
- evanelias 6y agoIn my field (database automation) I do not ignore bug reports, ever. Critical bugs can mean data loss and severe reputational harm. YMMV. We can agree to disagree.
- musingsole 6y agoBecause in your specific niche of software you can't imagine letting a bug report hang for a day...you're incapable of understanding that that is not the case for 99% of software? You're unaware of bug tickets wallowing in backlogs for days to years?
- evanelias 6y agoI have said nothing about what I can or cannot imagine or understand. I specifically said YMMV to indicate that I acknowledge experiences will differ across fields. I find your tone to be uncivil and I do not wish to continue this discussion with you.