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TheEvilSkeleton

One thing I never expected about software development is how different contributing to an external free and open-source (FOSS) project is from maintaining a FOSS project. I thought they were similar, but they're not.

I get exhausted very quickly from constantly reading and reviewing code, as there are still many things I don't know about programming. Having to learn while I'm reviewing hits like a truck at 69420 KM/h. It also doesn't help that I feel pressured not to keep contributors waiting (not in the sense that contributors pressure me) when I'm busy IRL or want to work on something else.

Contributing code, on the other hand, is often as simple as sending a small patch, having it reviewed, addressing some issues and sometimes asking a few questions on how to address them, and you're done. Of course, it depends on what you contribute, as large patches can take a long time to be merged, but I enjoy contributing to external projects more than maintaining them.

Really, maintaining a FOSS project is time consuming and feels like a job - a job that doesn't pay you. I genuinely appreciate developers who continuously maintain code without getting paid the amount they deserve.

14 Jun 2023 at 14:31 | Open on social.treehouse.systems
10 comments
Joshua Barretto

@TheEvilSkeleton Huh, maybe I should contribute to other stuff more instead of trying to maintain existing stuff 🤔

14 Jun 2023 at 14:43 | Open on social.coop
slembcke

@TheEvilSkeleton Uff. I feel that, and I only maintain a couple of small projects.

14 Jun 2023 at 15:02 | Open on mastodon.gamedev.place
Krysztophe

@TheEvilSkeleton

Like having a child...

"Programming is like sex. One mistake and you have to support it for the rest of your life. "
(Michael Sinz)

14 Jun 2023 at 15:09 | Open on framapiaf.org
Campbell Jones

@TheEvilSkeleton It's WAY different, yeah. Fortunately Budgie is small enough that it hasn't been overwhelming for me, but I'm also not in the position that @JoshStrobl is.

14 Jun 2023 at 15:27 | Open on fosstodon.org
crzwdjk ✅

@TheEvilSkeleton I am lucky that I get paid to maintain an open source project, because it is definitely a lot of work, a large fraction of which is not actually coding. Doesn't help when the project was basically without a maintainer for a couple years.

14 Jun 2023 at 16:20 | Open on mastodon.social
Doomsdayrs :fedora: :matrix:

@TheEvilSkeleton everyday I go home, pull up shosetsu, and re-read issues

:ac_sad:

14 Jun 2023 at 16:57 | Open on fosstodon.org
TheEvilSkeleton

Honestly, most FOSS maintainers are in a lose-lose situation no matter their position, especially when they have a large userbase.

--

If they're too nice, then they're not going to express their controversial opinions on some matters to avoid conflict.

If they're "mean", then users will start harassing them, speak ill of them, etc.

--

If they're doing the work for free, then they're not receiving any money from it. If they need money and start "begging" for it, then users will hate it and might want to switch to something else.

If they're employed by a company, then they're going to be trashed for getting paid and not having the "true spirit of FOSS" and whatever project they'll be maintaining will be considered as "corporate infested" or any kind of synonym automatically.

--

If they have no way of getting data properly (e.g. telemetry, used features, etc.), including from less technically inclined users, then they won't be able to improve their software properly.

If they adopt some sort of telemetry, then users will call it "spyware" and might want to switch to something else. If it's opt-in, then most users will have it disabled anyway.

--

If they stick with more ethical platforms (GitLab, Matrix, etc.), then they'll lose many potential contributors, as they have a much smaller userbase than proprietary platforms. On top of that, they'll be worsening accessibility as the more ethical platforms often have worse accessibility.

If they use proprietary platforms (GitHub, Discord, etc.), then, well, it'll probably leave with some level of discomfort for relying on proprietary platforms.

--

If they continue to work on their project for a long time (especially for free) and start losing motivation, then they might still continue to maintain it to not lose the massive community they've built, but potentially be burned out by it.

If they deprecate the project, then users will think that the maintainers never cared for the community, nor did they care about their project.

--

(Just to be clear, when I say "users", I don't mean everyone. It's not meant to generalize.)

Honestly, most FOSS maintainers are in a lose-lose situation no matter their position, especially when they have a large userbase.

--

If they're too nice, then they're not going to express their controversial opinions on some matters to avoid conflict.

If they're "mean", then users will start harassing them, speak ill of them, etc.

18 Jun 2023 at 4:27 | Open on social.treehouse.systems
Chimmie Firefly 💙💜🤍

@TheEvilSkeleton

Soo that's why most of my repos became proprietary due to FOSS community, sowwy.

18 Jun 2023 at 4:51 | Open on tech.lgbt
Kevin Karhan :verified:

@gameplayer @TheEvilSkeleton *nodds in agreement*

I just keep my FLOSS projects as they are...

18 Jun 2023 at 5:08 | Open on mstdn.social
Cleo Menezes Jr. :verified:

There are many things that can be resolved simply by being arbitrary. I know I don't have to deal with a huge user base like you probably do, but there are things that people spend a week or a month complaining about and then just disappear. Also, people will keep complaining and in those cases, if someone tries to cosplay as a consumer, I cosplay as a company and offer a refund.

18 Jun 2023 at 5:28 | Open on floss.social
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