Dear open source users,
If the author of your favorite open source app has announced they stopped developing and supporting the app (because they're frustrated and possibly burned out), please don't suggest they do more free work so that you can continue using the app.
Instead, consider thanking them for their past work and let them know that you enjoyed their app.
Regards,
another open source developer
@cketti Yes. And also: If the tool they built mattered to you, maybe not just move along trying to look for "another alternative" but actually trying to figure out how to keep that alive, how to revive, fork, maintain, fund, ... a process that keeps this project from fading away because the lead developer had to pull out of it? In the end, a lot of this current dispute feels much more like consumerism than real "FLOSS community". 😟
@cketti @z428 Well, it has a bit more layers than that. First, the user might not be aware of the risks. The license is not enough IMHO, after a certain adoption threshold, if the readme doesn't communicate the (lack of) support or stability, then the fault partially lies with the project lead(s).
It's like feeding birds. If they get used to it and then you take away the bird feeder on a whim, it's not the bird's fault. Obviously that's an exaggeration, but hopefully you get what I mean.
@csepp @z428 Developers generally don't trick people into depending on their software. If you do depend on it, that was your choice. If you didn't foresee that the software might be abandoned at some point, that's on you. Really, that's not specific to FOSS at all.
But with open source software you at least still have the source code and can continue development (or pay someone to do it for you).
@cketti @z428
Re:
> that's on you
I find that assigning blame is less useful than trying to figure out how to avoid the problem. 🤷
No one claimed anyone is being tricked, the point I was trying to make (maybe badly), is that it's possible to communicate issues in advance, before they pile up.
And yup, it's not specific to FOSS, all projects should be transparent about their sustainability. That only reinforces that issues should be communicated in advance, whatever their nature may be.
> That only reinforces that issues should be communicated in advance, whatever their nature may be.
You're asking for people who already basically work for free to do even more work, so that you aren't inconvenienced too much.
I'd say you can certainly hope for that, but you shouldn't expect it, much less demand it.
@cketti @z428
Adding a simple sentence to a readme is not a lot of effort. 🤷
Nor is writing a short "hey i'm having difficulties, don't expect a new release any time soon".
And no, that's not why I'm asking. *I* understand software development. A random person who downloads [insert software name] from a repo (or even from an official project page) might not. I hoped that was clear.
Devs and users alike are not exempt from societal norms or having to communicate and listen.
@cketti @z428
IMHO preventing contributor burnout is a more important problem than treating it after it already happened, simply because prevention is nearly always the better solution to any given problem.
If the dev feels like they are expected to do free work, they can lessen the expectation by telling their users they can't work on the project, instead of working on the project until they burn out.
Like @cketti said, all you said is right, but it's wishful thinking in the case of open source because the work itself needs to be rewarding on its own, and if some devs don't do this kind of preventative work, it's because they don't find it rewarding in itself, no matter where it may lead them down the line.
I'm grateful #Friendica has someone like @heluecht trudging along day in and day out because my own contributions have been inconsistent to keep them rewarding, and I wouldn't be able to sustain the project on my own. However, I'm not sure what kind of preventative work we could do to keep Michael trudging along, so far he's been wonderful keeping at it, but almost everything rests on his shoulders.
Does it mean Friendica is doomed if he ever quits for any reason? Absolutely, and I don't believe there's anyone that can prevent that, short of doing all the work Michael is doing by himself without any other reward than the work itself.
@hypolite ... projects driven exclusively by individual volunteer enthusiasts in their spare time) and/or try to strive for actually _getting_ to a point where this sustainability is even possible. Like: What would it take to make FairEMail, Friendica, Pleroma, Diaspora, ... more "sustainable" than, in example, Twitter or Flickr that have been around for 10+ years...? 2/2
The story of Google+ is a good example both of a corporate platform disappearing, and of the flexibility of its former users who found their solace again, either on the Fediverse or elsewhere. Your home on the Social Internet may move, but at the end of the day you're still you.
@hypolite How did we manage to get things such as Wikipedia, Debian or larger GNU/Linux distributions to "fly"? Of course at least Linux, too, is suffering from fragmentation and having way too many different "just because" - reimplementations of virtually everything, but maybe in the last couple of years we just unlearnt how to focus on shared goals? I'm not sure here, and maybe this sounds more harsh than it is intended to, yet still it feels quite ... weird.
I get your need for stability, but so much of success is about being at the right time in the right place that individual behavior matters very little in the long run, so the best you can do is cheer on the projects you like and plan for a move if they fall apart.
What I am suggesting is to do whatever you can at your level and not worry too much about the grand scheme of things because of both the complexity to grasp (and the obvious pitfalls associated with it when biases and fallacies kick in to replace actual understanding) and the limited agency at the individual level.
I joined Friendica in 2016 specifically because I could contribute code to it, and we’ve made strides in code quality and stability since thanks in part to my work. But contribution isn't limited to code, we have plenty of tasks that can be accomplished by non-devs like translating the interface, running a public node, reporting bugs, spreading the word, sending chocolate to Michael…
But I also know this project is precarious. It doesn’t prevent me from working on it though.
@hypolite @heluecht @z428 @witchescauldron @cketti
re: "Do what you can"
That's pretty much what I said, just focused on the communication aspect. 🙃
Like you said, "do what you can" should also be taken to apply to non-code contributions, including writing docs, helping out on issue trackers, and keeping the community healthy. If it improves things, it's worth doing.
My issue with this phrasing is that, especially for non-code contributions, you can't possibly know if and how it will improve things. So there's the risk of overthinking it while not doing anything like in this thread. Just do the things you like doing is plenty enough already, project stability be damned.
@hypolite @heluecht @z428 @witchescauldron @cketti That's where guidelines come in handy. In my eyes, it's not much different than adding a CoC, or using issue templates. It just makes things smoother at very little cost to the contributors.
If just jumping head first into the project and not managing expectations leads to burnout, then I don't understand the opposition to preventing that, especially if the dev's enjoyment of their work is so important.
@hypolite @heluecht @z428 @witchescauldron @cketti
Like, you write a two sentence update every so often and maybe add a sentence to the readme, and it lifts the pressure from you. Worst case scenario you wasted 10 minutes writing it. 🤷
@hypolite @heluecht @z428 @witchescauldron @cketti
If that much communication leads to decision paralysis, we could write some templates. It's like licenses. 99% of devs just use an existing one and there are several tools that help them choose.
This could be that simple. Think the mood setting on Deviantart updates, if you've used that. Just put an emoji in the commit message or something. 🤷
There are definitely better solutions than the status quo.
Since it's entirely dependent on a developer self-awareness, external input matters very little because if a developer doesn't realize they are spending more time/emotional work than they are ready to until it's too late, what are the chances people who know them even less would?
@hypolite ... entities starting to enforce compliance with certain rules, not all out of shady reasons? Is there a risk of FLOSS "spare-time" developers burning out once they reach a point where things _have_ to be done and end up being annoying and tedious work rather than self-rewarding fun? What's the motivation of getting FLOSS across this mental line then?
