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> my most frequent (if potentially unfair) gripes with FOSS projects, The difference is that you should not have any gripes with FOSS projects because they don
by anon291 3y ago
> my most frequent (if potentially unfair) gripes with FOSS projects,
The difference is that you should not have any gripes with FOSS projects because they don't charge you anything, make no guarantees, and don't expect anything from you in return. In other words, your thoughts are irrelevant.
If you want something that works, pay for it.
If you want to play around and sometimes get stuff done, use FOSS. There's the exception for FOSS supported by big businesses, but this is not what people talk about when they talk about FOSS.
- thiht 3y ago> If you want something that works, pay for it. That’s literally what they’re doing, with proprietary software.
- ipaddr 3y agoHe can invest time/work or money. If enough people are willing to pay someone will offer it and he can pay. If not he has to write it himself.
- jwells89 3y agoAssuming such contributions are accepted in the first place, which is far from a given. It's not unusual for "polish" sorts of contributions to be refused by project maintainers for various reasons. It doesn't matter how much code I write or how much money I donate if the project has decided it doesn't care about the same things I do. Of course I can technically always fork or start my own project, but that increases expenses by an order of magnitude, which I might not be able to afford.
- PhasmaFelis 3y agoI can't tell if this is meant to be defending FOSS or condemning it.
- anon291 3y agoIt's not meant to be doing anything. I have no vested interest in others hobby projects. If they want to polish it... great. If they don't... great. No one is entitled to anyone else's labor. This is not an argument in favor or against; it's a simple ethical claim on ownership and labor. If someone gives you something for free, you should be grateful, but would otherwise need to decide on your own whether or not you need to use it. FOSS is like those canvas bags they hand out at conventions or at Costco. It's nice they're free, and the ownership model is straightforwards. Sometimes they're nice, sometimes they're not, and sometimes I need them and sometimes I don't. I'm grateful to those who give it to me, but if I don't need them I kindly hand it back. If I do need it, I use it. And sometimes, if it's not working out, I buy a real bag.
- PhasmaFelis 3y agoNone of which means that you're not allowed to have gripes. Yes, yelling and getting pissed at maintainers for not having the feature you want is counter-productive. But all OP did was outline some issues that have pushed them away from contributing to FOSS projects as much as they'd like, and you reacted as if they were demanding free labor.