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On Being a Free Software Maintainer

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Re: On Being a Free Software Maintainer

#31

Post by ThJ »

0815test wrote: post #20
zelphirkalt wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is about free software, not open source software.

The "free" in free software is about freedom, not getting stuff free-of-charge.

English has a serious problem with ambiguity around the word "free". In the closely related Scandinavian languages, there is a difference between "fri" (as in freedom) and "gratis" (as in free of charge). Unlike in English, the Latin borrowing "gratis" is the common everyday word for things that are free of charge. Free software is known as "fri programvare", whereas free-of-charge software (a.k.a. freeware) is "gratis programvare".

Re: On Being a Free Software Maintainer

#32

Post by qaq »

mikekchar wrote: post #29
dingallero wrote: post #4

This has been discussed before and it has been true for me as well. I don't have a large, super-popular package I maintain, but several lesser known ones, some of which I wrote, and several of which I just adopted and passively became a maintainer over time. At some point the pressure from the community made me pass the magical threshold between fun/useful/rewarding and downright chore. It has permanently changed my…

> useless code of conduct #Code of Conduct This is not a community project. This is my project. I know that will disappoint some people, but I do this for fun in my own spare time. If it stops being fun, I will stop working on it, which will pretty much kill the project. There are millions of projects in the world and the only reason they continue (if they actually do) is because the maintainers stubbornly stick at i…

Are you OK with other people using this ? This looks to be the perfect #Code of Conduct

Re: On Being a Free Software Maintainer

#33

Post by LeonM »

iamgopal wrote: post #19

What is the latest, state of the art way to earn money this way ?

I'd say (but I do not maintain large FOSS):

- Ask for donations

- Ask commercial users to pay a fee (still voluntarily though)

- Offer yourself as a consultant on the software, you can help businesses with implementation or migration.

Of course, there is a thin line. Having people to pay for your software raises expectations. Also, paying customers could steer you into a direction you (or the FOSS community) don't like.

In my experience, almost all businesses are perfectly willing to pay for the software that make their business possible. Businesses understand that FOSS is free speech, not free beer.

Re: On Being a Free Software Maintainer

#34

Post by kissgyorgy »

abhinai wrote: post #6

Are there any benefits to being a free software maintainer beyond the obvious pride and satisfaction that comes with the role? For example, is this something that people mention on their resumes? Does getting a job become easier and when you do, can you negotiate higher salaries? Our world is incredibly indebted to Free Software Maintainers and I wonder how we can pay them back in our little ways.

I have a page dedicated to my Open Source projects in my CV pointing to GitHub repos. I got hired to my last job without doing any homework or whiteboard programming because I had enough code to show.

Re: On Being a Free Software Maintainer

#35

Post by mikekchar »

qaq wrote: post #32
mikekchar wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> useless code of conduct #Code of Conduct This is not a community project. This is my project. I know that will disappoint some people, but I do this for fun in my own spare time. If it stops being fun, I will stop working on it, which will pretty much kill the project. There are millions of projects in the world and the only reason they continue (if they actually do) is because the maintainers stubbornly stick at i…

Are you OK with other people using this ? This looks to be the perfect #Code of Conduct

Feel free :-) I warn you that the only way I had the courage to write it was that I drank a considerable amount of nihonshu (Japanese sake). It was pink. The label said that the pink colour was a natural result of the kouji (aspergillus oryzae). I'm skeptical :-)

But, in all seriousness, I've been thinking about it a lot and really the main thing, I think, is for everyone (even the maintainer) to avoid drama. If you find yourself in a dramatic situation that seems to have been caused by your actions, simply apologise for the drama that you have unintentionally invoked. I think that's all that is necessary.

Re: On Being a Free Software Maintainer

#36

Post by paulryanrogers »

vinceguidry wrote: post #28
molteanu wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now I'm curious about what you have read lately. The Technological Society by Ellul was a good start for me. Yes, there's a lot of wishful thinking and religious zeal out there, helped by the modern "we can f * up your brain and you won't even notice it" techniques. It seems to me you can spend your whole life developing some free software which gets used, among other things, to create tons of money for other people.…

The Bible. Wish I could offer something more accessible. But a better read on the nature of hells, belief, faith, false gods, and how to find a true path to salvation can't be found. Haven't picked mine up in awhile. Should probably fix that. I spend my time these days writing rather than reading. Chasing my own muse. Quora is my usual outlet, though I'll occasionally feel compelled to comment on HN.

Having wasted a significant portion of my youth on said book I would not recommend it. The whole thing boils down to devoting yourself to a (IMO) demanding, bigoted, homophobic, and imaginary being.

Whatever crumbs of truth (treat others like you want to be treated, life is short, etc.) included are better expressed elsewhere and without all the baggage.

Re: On Being a Free Software Maintainer

#37

Post by aboutruby »

mikekchar wrote: post #29
dingallero wrote: post #4

This has been discussed before and it has been true for me as well. I don't have a large, super-popular package I maintain, but several lesser known ones, some of which I wrote, and several of which I just adopted and passively became a maintainer over time. At some point the pressure from the community made me pass the magical threshold between fun/useful/rewarding and downright chore. It has permanently changed my…

> useless code of conduct #Code of Conduct This is not a community project. This is my project. I know that will disappoint some people, but I do this for fun in my own spare time. If it stops being fun, I will stop working on it, which will pretty much kill the project. There are millions of projects in the world and the only reason they continue (if they actually do) is because the maintainers stubbornly stick at i…

# Code of Conduct

This is a dictatorship, I do what I want.

Thanks.

Re: On Being a Free Software Maintainer

#38

Post by hypfer »

mikekchar wrote: post #29
dingallero wrote: post #4

This has been discussed before and it has been true for me as well. I don't have a large, super-popular package I maintain, but several lesser known ones, some of which I wrote, and several of which I just adopted and passively became a maintainer over time. At some point the pressure from the community made me pass the magical threshold between fun/useful/rewarding and downright chore. It has permanently changed my…

> useless code of conduct #Code of Conduct This is not a community project. This is my project. I know that will disappoint some people, but I do this for fun in my own spare time. If it stops being fun, I will stop working on it, which will pretty much kill the project. There are millions of projects in the world and the only reason they continue (if they actually do) is because the maintainers stubbornly stick at i…

I will adopt this as soon as someone tries to force me to add a CoC to one of my projects. Thank you

Re: On Being a Free Software Maintainer

#39

Post by karussell »

zimbatm wrote: post #30
StavrosK wrote: post #2

This has not been my experience. I maintain various popular and not-so-popular projects (although maybe not to the level of gnome calendar) and I just work as much as I want. If I don't feel like handling an issue right then, I say I won't have time soon and that PRs are appreciated. The vast majority of people are understanding, I don't remember anyone making a fuss about it.

Do you ever have a problem saying no to people? Some times I am wrangling internally and that has an emotional cost. I find that being super crystal clear on where I stand is absolutely necessary to be able to say no.

Yes, exactly. Saying 'no' is a very important skill you should have. Of course you can learn it too (like I did :))

Also it is very important to reverse the emotional costs. I mean, usually people come to your repo and demand/ask for a feature. Instead of feeling overwhelmed from this request, say that you welcome contributions and without this this feature won't happen and the feature request will be closed (after 1/2 a year). Or if it is a bug report, ask for a reproduce with the latest master and so on ... so: try to reverse the demand to offload your maintaining work if it is no longer fun to you :)

Re: On Being a Free Software Maintainer

#40

Post by vinceguidry »

paulryanrogers wrote: post #36
vinceguidry wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Bible. Wish I could offer something more accessible. But a better read on the nature of hells, belief, faith, false gods, and how to find a true path to salvation can't be found. Haven't picked mine up in awhile. Should probably fix that. I spend my time these days writing rather than reading. Chasing my own muse. Quora is my usual outlet, though I'll occasionally feel compelled to comment on HN.

Having wasted a significant portion of my youth on said book I would not recommend it. The whole thing boils down to devoting yourself to a (IMO) demanding, bigoted, homophobic, and imaginary being. Whatever crumbs of truth (treat others like you want to be treated, life is short, etc.) included are better expressed elsewhere and without all the baggage.

That's why I said I wish I had something more accessible. Unless you already have the penchant for belief the Bible is just going to feel that way. It's an ancient text written for ancient peoples.

You need a map to the Bible in order to really understand it. I like YouTube videos, and the best ones I've seen on this topic are the ones by the Bible Project.

https://www.youtube.com/user/jointhebibleproject

And they only feel like crumbs because we've spent the last 2000 years building a society based on those ideas. But they were new and shiny at one point in time. Just like tech is new and shiny now.

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