I did quite a lot of QA for a large open source project (I don't want to pick on them, so I aren't going to name them). At first it is great fun, reducing test

I did quite a lot of QA for a large open source project (I don't want to pick on them, so I aren't going to name them). At first it is great fun, reducing testcases, talking to users, etc. However, the problem is that you still aren't a developer, and can't actually fix bugs. Also, because this is open source (and you are just a QA person), you can't direct what bugs you think need fixing most importantly. Those bugs lie open for months, making you (the QA person) look bad, but you obviously can't do anything about it yourself. When you complain, the obvious suggestion is "move into development, then you can fix bugs yourself". Of course, when you do that, you don't have time for QA any more. Therefore, good QA people usually either leave, or turn into developers. Do I have a suggested fix for this? Not really. We can't really demand that developers donating their time do what QA people donating their time tell them to do.