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Counterpoint: gorhill and uBlock. IIRC, gorhill (Raymond Hill), creator of the popular uBlock adblock extension, wanted to step down and hand the reins off to a

Counterpoint: gorhill and uBlock. IIRC, gorhill (Raymond Hill), creator of the popular uBlock adblock extension, wanted to step down and hand the reins off to a contributor. The contributor then promptly removed all references to gorhill and started charging for the plugin and turning the extension into an affiliate marketing product. This reddit comment covers it pretty well: https://reddit.com/r/ublock/comments/32mos6/_/cte0a3n/?context=1 https://reddit.com/r/ublock/comments/32mos6/_/cte0a3n/?conte...

stainablesteel 3y ago
i'm interested in this but that link doesn't work, what happened with ublock?
- NoahKAndrews 3y ago
  The link works fine for me. The quick version is that when gorhill handed the repository over, the new maintainer immediately took actions that didn't exude confidence, so gorhill forked it into uBlock Origin, which he still maintains and is the one you should be using.
  - shkkmo 3y ago
    "exude" isn't the right word here. In this context "exude confidence" mean "exhibits a high level of confidence". "Instill" or "inspire" would have the meaning you're going for here.
    - pbhjpbhj 3y ago
      Looks like style to me. Like saying "their actions weren't exemplary" when you really mean "their actions were bad"; maybe a British-English style? When one uses this format, like in the phrase "[something] wasn't ideal" (eg 'I crashed my car and missed my own wedding, which wasn't ideal') the claim to less-than-perfection is really an implicit statement that the object/situation was the opposite of perfection.
      - HPsquared 3y ago
        It's deeper than style. Presumably the new maintainer took some rather bold actions which would indeed suggest they had a high degree of confidence themselves, confidence in their own actions. But those actions did not inspire confidence in the product, among the user base.
      - shkkmo 3y ago
        Saying the new maintainer did not inspire confidence is an understatement. (Since the new maintainer destroyed the trust in the project.) Saying that the new maintainer did not exude confidence is a completely different meaning.
    - ducttapecrown 3y ago
      Hey shkkmo, "isn't" isn't the right word here. In this context, the right word is subjective and everybody else understood what they're saying so the problem is with your perception of what their meaning was, not their comment!
      - shkkmo 3y ago
        Language does change over time and trying to ignore that after it has happened can make you a pedant. However, words still have specific meanings, even if they can change. If you decide that "isn't" has a totally different meaning than the established one and start using that new meaning without explaining it to anyone, you'll just confuse people and fail to actually communicate. If you have a group of people that all use that new meaning of "isn't" then you can use it among yourselves without clarification but should still be aware of the potential for confusing others. Generally, when people use words they are trying to communicate something so they try to use meanings that their audience will understand. If you can clarify an incorrect use politely and without condescension, it is often appreciated and helpful.
    - urfullofsht 3y ago
      [dead]
    - NoahKAndrews 3y ago
      Good to know, thanks
- z3c0 3y ago
  Try changing the link to use old.reddit.com
NoahKAndrews 3y ago
In my view, browser extensions are the biggest example of projects where this approach is a terrible idea. Most of them have enormous access to their users' browsing data and it's easy for them to inject ads, and so there's a lot of incentive for bad actors to try to take over popular extensions. From what I understand it's fairly common for publishers of popular extensions to get offers to purchase them.
- judge2020 3y ago
  For what it's worth, access to user data is what Manifest v3 tried to fix, albeit with limited success (and thus support).
bachmeier 3y ago
There's no compelling reason to do that with an open source project. A link to someone else's fork and a note on what you're doing is good enough. You don't need to give anyone else the project's brand.

stainablesteel 3y ago

i'm interested in this but that link doesn't work, what happened with ublock?

NoahKAndrews 3y ago
The link works fine for me. The quick version is that when gorhill handed the repository over, the new maintainer immediately took actions that didn't exude confidence, so gorhill forked it into uBlock Origin, which he still maintains and is the one you should be using.
- shkkmo 3y ago
  "exude" isn't the right word here. In this context "exude confidence" mean "exhibits a high level of confidence". "Instill" or "inspire" would have the meaning you're going for here.
  - pbhjpbhj 3y ago
    Looks like style to me. Like saying "their actions weren't exemplary" when you really mean "their actions were bad"; maybe a British-English style? When one uses this format, like in the phrase "[something] wasn't ideal" (eg 'I crashed my car and missed my own wedding, which wasn't ideal') the claim to less-than-perfection is really an implicit statement that the object/situation was the opposite of perfection.
    - HPsquared 3y ago
      It's deeper than style. Presumably the new maintainer took some rather bold actions which would indeed suggest they had a high degree of confidence themselves, confidence in their own actions. But those actions did not inspire confidence in the product, among the user base.
    - shkkmo 3y ago
      Saying the new maintainer did not inspire confidence is an understatement. (Since the new maintainer destroyed the trust in the project.) Saying that the new maintainer did not exude confidence is a completely different meaning.
  - ducttapecrown 3y ago
    Hey shkkmo, "isn't" isn't the right word here. In this context, the right word is subjective and everybody else understood what they're saying so the problem is with your perception of what their meaning was, not their comment!
    - shkkmo 3y ago
      Language does change over time and trying to ignore that after it has happened can make you a pedant. However, words still have specific meanings, even if they can change. If you decide that "isn't" has a totally different meaning than the established one and start using that new meaning without explaining it to anyone, you'll just confuse people and fail to actually communicate. If you have a group of people that all use that new meaning of "isn't" then you can use it among yourselves without clarification but should still be aware of the potential for confusing others. Generally, when people use words they are trying to communicate something so they try to use meanings that their audience will understand. If you can clarify an incorrect use politely and without condescension, it is often appreciated and helpful.
  - urfullofsht 3y ago
    [dead]
  - NoahKAndrews 3y ago
    Good to know, thanks
z3c0 3y ago
Try changing the link to use old.reddit.com

NoahKAndrews 3y ago

In my view, browser extensions are the biggest example of projects where this approach is a terrible idea. Most of them have enormous access to their users' browsing data and it's easy for them to inject ads, and so there's a lot of incentive for bad actors to try to take over popular extensions. From what I understand it's fairly common for publishers of popular extensions to get offers to purchase them.

judge2020 3y ago
For what it's worth, access to user data is what Manifest v3 tried to fix, albeit with limited success (and thus support).

bachmeier 3y ago

There's no compelling reason to do that with an open source project. A link to someone else's fork and a note on what you're doing is good enough. You don't need to give anyone else the project's brand.