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> The comment I screenshotted is passive-aggressive at best, and there's no really good way to ask "is this repo dead" without being passive-aggressive. My day-

> The comment I screenshotted is passive-aggressive at best, and there's no really good way to ask "is this repo dead" without being passive-aggressive. My day-to-day job that actually pays me a salary wouldn't ever provide a bulleted list of the reasons I suck, let alone a project I develop in my spare time. There is nothing passive-aggressive about that comment. There is nothing problematic about it at all. Nobody's calling you slurs or making demands. I see one guy who might as well be a Mormon Boy Scout from Canada. "Is this repo dead" is not passive-aggressive, just ineloquent. Fuck my eyes until the jelly leaks out my ears if a courteous and professionally-written question constitutes "applying pressure and being rude" these days. I don't know what a "bulleted list of the reasons [you] suck" has to do with anything (I don't see where anybody sent you one) but you're coming across as someone who invites people to your garage sale and then brandishes a shotgun and starts screaming when they set foot on your property. > I’ve never seen any discussions or articles about whether it’s appropriate to ask if an open source repository is dead. Is there an implicit contract to actively maintain any open source software you publish? Are you obligated to provide free support if you hit a certain star amount on GitHub or ask for funding through GitHub Sponsorships/Patreon? After all, most permissive open source code licenses like the MIT License contain some variant of “the software is provided ‘as is’, without warranty of any kind.” Here's an example of why everyone should ask if an open source project is dead: https://github.com/mckaywrigley/chatbot-ui/issues https://github.com/mckaywrigley/chatbot-ui/issues A number of issues complain about it leaking OpenAI keys. Nobody's figured out how, but it'd be nice to know if anybody's working on it, if it's worth submitting a PR, if it should be forked, if it's worth bothering with at all. This code is a massive liability in its current state. Its creator is absent. It warrants questions being asked about its future. Yeah, it's as-is software, but it's not an affront to your mother's virtue when someone asks if your shit still works or if you have plans to fix it. Nor is it a call for you to offer free labor. > I’ve had an existential crisis about my work in open source AI on GitHub, particularly as there has been both increasingly toxic backlash against AI and because the AI industry has been evolving so rapidly that I flat-out don’t have enough bandwidth to keep up Herein lies the problem? You sound overwhelmed. I've been there myself. I don't know what your year's been like but you genuinely might want to get away from the screen and get some fresh air. This is a good time of year to do it, since things generally slow down at work.

massysett 3y ago
I agree with you, and it’s why I stopped posting on Github. It was called “social coding” after all. I got tired of people asking me to fix stuff. But rather than complain about people asking, I just removed it from Github. I used to think the world would be worse off if more people do what I did by removing code they don’t want to maintain. I don’t think that anymore. There are enough people and businesses who, for various reasons, want to maintain free (in both senses of the word) software. I don’t think the marginal people like me - the people who don’t want to maintain, and who don’t want to be nagged - really contribute more than negligible value. I make stuff to scratch my itches. I stopped being so big-headed as to think that others need to see that stuff. But if I really wanted to post it, I’d put it on a website, probably under a pseudonym, with a warning not to nag me. Not on Github.
- leidenfrost 3y ago
  Question: is it really that bad? Sadly, I didn't have the opportunity to maintain a relevant enough repo. But, why not just develop at your own pace and simply not give a damn about complaints? Maybe a README to clarify the situation, specifying that it's your project, you are doing it at your leisure, and that's all.
  - massysett 3y ago
    True. But I’ve concluded it’s disingenuous to post on a place labeled “social coding” and then say: leave me alone. It would be like posting on HN and saying “do not respond to my comment.” I think those who post PRs and messages on GitHub are not entitled to any response. But I can understand those who think it’s rude not to reply. I would rather not reply. So there’s no reason to post in the first place.
    - 0x073 3y ago
      HN is like you go to ces or any other trade fair. GitHub is more like a city there are different places, open stores, private building, parks. Everyone can go into stores. Repo that is promoting themself on GitHub or other websites. No one will go into your private house that you don't want into it. Private repo or repo with no readme , description or topics. If you have a park with trees that look nice, maybe some people like it too and wann chill on it, if you don't want people on it write a shield private or do not step on the grass. Repo that is willing to be used by third parties, as other are interested into it as they see it. You don't want something write a rule into readme.

massysett 3y ago

I agree with you, and it’s why I stopped posting on Github. It was called “social coding” after all. I got tired of people asking me to fix stuff. But rather than complain about people asking, I just removed it from Github. I used to think the world would be worse off if more people do what I did by removing code they don’t want to maintain. I don’t think that anymore. There are enough people and businesses who, for various reasons, want to maintain free (in both senses of the word) software. I don’t think the marginal people like me - the people who don’t want to maintain, and who don’t want to be nagged - really contribute more than negligible value. I make stuff to scratch my itches. I stopped being so big-headed as to think that others need to see that stuff. But if I really wanted to post it, I’d put it on a website, probably under a pseudonym, with a warning not to nag me. Not on Github.

leidenfrost 3y ago
Question: is it really that bad? Sadly, I didn't have the opportunity to maintain a relevant enough repo. But, why not just develop at your own pace and simply not give a damn about complaints? Maybe a README to clarify the situation, specifying that it's your project, you are doing it at your leisure, and that's all.
- massysett 3y ago
  True. But I’ve concluded it’s disingenuous to post on a place labeled “social coding” and then say: leave me alone. It would be like posting on HN and saying “do not respond to my comment.” I think those who post PRs and messages on GitHub are not entitled to any response. But I can understand those who think it’s rude not to reply. I would rather not reply. So there’s no reason to post in the first place.
  - 0x073 3y ago
    HN is like you go to ces or any other trade fair. GitHub is more like a city there are different places, open stores, private building, parks. Everyone can go into stores. Repo that is promoting themself on GitHub or other websites. No one will go into your private house that you don't want into it. Private repo or repo with no readme , description or topics. If you have a park with trees that look nice, maybe some people like it too and wann chill on it, if you don't want people on it write a shield private or do not step on the grass. Repo that is willing to be used by third parties, as other are interested into it as they see it. You don't want something write a rule into readme.