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It's very difficult to 'prove' personal growth, even if it's tremendously valuable to yourself. Imagine if the author wanted to leave and seek another job: "I w

It's very difficult to 'prove' personal growth, even if it's tremendously valuable to yourself. Imagine if the author wanted to leave and seek another job: "I was a former contributor to the Linux kernel" counts for something. You don't want to have to follow that up with "but, well, I never got credit so I suppose you'll have to trust me :) :)".

gorjusborg 3y ago
Yes, I understood that was what the author was looking for: 'bragging rights'. The reality is that if you or he had been on the other side, you'd know that as a maintainer, you have enough to balance without worrying about everyone else's resume.
- seabass-labrax 3y ago
  One can't always correctly assume the motivations for a contribution, but 'bragging rights', as you put it, rank pretty highly in my experience. To lead a sustainable project, one has to be sensitive to these motivations and make satisfying them a sufficiently high priority. That doesn't have to mean a three-page press release every time someone joins your project, but it probably means publicly thanking a contributor for their first contribution. Every project is different, but as for myself I believe I have been successful in balancing my responsibilities as a maintainer appropriately whilst giving credit liberally. If this has helped someone fill their resume and land a dream job, even the better for it!
yencabulator 3y ago
Someone trying to claim significant work experience based on a single patch would be a huge red flag. This blog post is a red flag on fire.
- seabass-labrax 3y ago
  Oh, I wasn't suggesting that someone claim significant work experience, far from it. To prove your capabilities from FOSS contributions, you either have to (A) stick with one project for a long time and build up a strong reputation, or (B) make many small-ish contributions to a wide variety of projects. It's in that latter case that, without public credit, it can be difficult to prove to a potential employer that you really did the work.

gorjusborg 3y ago

Yes, I understood that was what the author was looking for: 'bragging rights'. The reality is that if you or he had been on the other side, you'd know that as a maintainer, you have enough to balance without worrying about everyone else's resume.

seabass-labrax 3y ago
One can't always correctly assume the motivations for a contribution, but 'bragging rights', as you put it, rank pretty highly in my experience. To lead a sustainable project, one has to be sensitive to these motivations and make satisfying them a sufficiently high priority. That doesn't have to mean a three-page press release every time someone joins your project, but it probably means publicly thanking a contributor for their first contribution. Every project is different, but as for myself I believe I have been successful in balancing my responsibilities as a maintainer appropriately whilst giving credit liberally. If this has helped someone fill their resume and land a dream job, even the better for it!

yencabulator 3y ago

Someone trying to claim significant work experience based on a single patch would be a huge red flag. This blog post is a red flag on fire.

seabass-labrax 3y ago
Oh, I wasn't suggesting that someone claim significant work experience, far from it. To prove your capabilities from FOSS contributions, you either have to (A) stick with one project for a long time and build up a strong reputation, or (B) make many small-ish contributions to a wide variety of projects. It's in that latter case that, without public credit, it can be difficult to prove to a potential employer that you really did the work.