3 ms·

Wow. Someone creates something and open sources it as it might be useful for others as well. And instead of keeping our mouths shut, or better yet, say thanks,

Wow. Someone creates something and open sources it as it might be useful for others as well. And instead of keeping our mouths shut, or better yet, say thanks, we go on about this being a bad idea. Talk of ungrateful. Open source projects don't need a higher, mightier directive. He/she has put his work out there. Show some respect.

choult 13y ago
My reading of the comments here are that most people are saying "Looks great, but why?" We can't just venerate something because it's been "given to the people" - we need to give OS just as much critical treatment as closed source. Otherwise, the community becomes a sycophantic collection of yes men, and those outside of it can't treat the products in the movement seriously in comparison to commercial offerings. Criticism in its constructive form is vital for improvement, regardless of the intentions of someone putting something out there.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
EnderMB 13y ago
While I usually agree with comments like these, I think it is key to point out that respect is earned, and that just because some code has been released it doesn't mean that we should be grateful for it being bestowed upon us. Nowadays, when I release any code I tend to write a description of said code to illustrate how I intend it to be used. If I'm writing something that I believe shouldn't be used on a production project I will explicitly state this. I don't release a lot of code, but I've released a few snippets of untested, hacky code before that has found its way into production sites, and the last thing I want is for people to slate me just because I thought I'd show off what I had written. This kind of thing happens all the time, almost monthly on Hacker News and Reddit. Everyone would probably be a lot happier if people were to add a basic disclaimer to their code to say "Hey, I've written this for a bit of fun. Don't use it on a user-facing site, okay?" to released code if they don't intend for it to be used on production sites by others. It may not be applicable in this case, but I reckon most cases where people bitch about how shitty some open source code or technique is would be solved if an author would explicitly state the use case for their code.
- lwhi 13y ago
  There's a difference between (not) being grateful and being overly disparaging.
  - EnderMB 13y ago
    Absolutely, and people shouldn't be overly negative towards another persons work. Decent manners towards other human beings aside, my main point is that a lot of the negative criticism we see towards released code and tools on communities like HN and Reddit would disappear if authors would explicitly state the intended use case for their work.
    - lwhi 13y ago
      That's a good point, but the onus should probably be on us. E.g. be more empathetic / less judgemental from the start.
      - cooper12 13y ago
        Exactly. We should be creating a community where people are encouraged to share their code and to expect constructive criticism.

choult 13y ago

My reading of the comments here are that most people are saying "Looks great, but why?" We can't just venerate something because it's been "given to the people" - we need to give OS just as much critical treatment as closed source. Otherwise, the community becomes a sycophantic collection of yes men, and those outside of it can't treat the products in the movement seriously in comparison to commercial offerings. Criticism in its constructive form is vital for improvement, regardless of the intentions of someone putting something out there.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

EnderMB 13y ago

While I usually agree with comments like these, I think it is key to point out that respect is earned, and that just because some code has been released it doesn't mean that we should be grateful for it being bestowed upon us. Nowadays, when I release any code I tend to write a description of said code to illustrate how I intend it to be used. If I'm writing something that I believe shouldn't be used on a production project I will explicitly state this. I don't release a lot of code, but I've released a few snippets of untested, hacky code before that has found its way into production sites, and the last thing I want is for people to slate me just because I thought I'd show off what I had written. This kind of thing happens all the time, almost monthly on Hacker News and Reddit. Everyone would probably be a lot happier if people were to add a basic disclaimer to their code to say "Hey, I've written this for a bit of fun. Don't use it on a user-facing site, okay?" to released code if they don't intend for it to be used on production sites by others. It may not be applicable in this case, but I reckon most cases where people bitch about how shitty some open source code or technique is would be solved if an author would explicitly state the use case for their code.

lwhi 13y ago
There's a difference between (not) being grateful and being overly disparaging.
- EnderMB 13y ago
  Absolutely, and people shouldn't be overly negative towards another persons work. Decent manners towards other human beings aside, my main point is that a lot of the negative criticism we see towards released code and tools on communities like HN and Reddit would disappear if authors would explicitly state the intended use case for their work.
  - lwhi 13y ago
    That's a good point, but the onus should probably be on us. E.g. be more empathetic / less judgemental from the start.
    - cooper12 13y ago
      Exactly. We should be creating a community where people are encouraged to share their code and to expect constructive criticism.