Linux Mint's Sobering Update: A Glimpse into the Personal Struggles Devs Face
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Re: Linux Mint's Sobering Update: A Glimpse into the Personal Struggles Devs Face
#2The donation graph is misleading IMO, it doesn't start at 0 on the y axis.
Re: Linux Mint's Sobering Update: A Glimpse into the Personal Struggles Devs Face
#3I can't even imagine the stress from public comments that comes from working on an open source operating system.
I don't use Mint but I'm hugely sympathetic to the devs who have to deal with the backlash from, of all things, a logo and website design change that they likely had little to no involvement with.
Re: Linux Mint's Sobering Update: A Glimpse into the Personal Struggles Devs Face
#4> Remember that these folks are pouring all of their energy into a free product, and remember that they're sensitive to how you perceive it.
I hope I live to see the day when the internet stops bringing out the worst in us. The Linux community might not be as vitriolic as cesspools like gaming, but some days it really isn't that far off.
Re: Linux Mint's Sobering Update: A Glimpse into the Personal Struggles Devs Face
#5> Remember that these folks are pouring all of their energy into a free product, and remember that they're sensitive to how you perceive it. I hope I live to see the day when the internet stops bringing out the worst in us. The Linux community might not be as vitriolic as cesspools like gaming, but some days it really isn't that far off.
I think part of it was the tone set by Linus. He had an attitude that on the surface seemed to be perfectionism but was really just abusive. It's good that he stepped back and rethought how we dealt with people.
Re: Linux Mint's Sobering Update: A Glimpse into the Personal Struggles Devs Face
#6I can't even imagine the stress from public comments that comes from working on an open source operating system. I don't use Mint but I'm hugely sympathetic to the devs who have to deal with the backlash from, of all things, a logo and website design change that they likely had little to no involvement with.
I worked for a while on a distro. The issue tracker is stressful for two main reasons. One, a lot of esoteric bugs that are hardware dependent. It's so frustrating to ask for help in testing to be ghosted or told 'no.' People don't seem to understand that as a small team, you don't have and won't buy all the hardware choices that exist to work on something for free.
The second stressor are people being adament and pushy about what they want, and not bugs at all. Go build your own distro, guys.
I found myself being a real dick to some people, so stepped away as it wasn't worth the stress, and I didn't want to tarnish the reputation of others who worked on the project.
Re: Linux Mint's Sobering Update: A Glimpse into the Personal Struggles Devs Face
#7The donation graph is misleading IMO, it doesn't start at 0 on the y axis.
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Re: Linux Mint's Sobering Update: A Glimpse into the Personal Struggles Devs Face
#8> Remember that these folks are pouring all of their energy into a free product, and remember that they're sensitive to how you perceive it. I hope I live to see the day when the internet stops bringing out the worst in us. The Linux community might not be as vitriolic as cesspools like gaming, but some days it really isn't that far off.
As someone who has published a free app for fun, I've learned that due to any mix of entitlement and ignorance, anything you put out there can make some people emotionally angry. I'm still learning how to move on and accept that this is OK, for them and for me.
Re: Linux Mint's Sobering Update: A Glimpse into the Personal Struggles Devs Face
#9I can't even imagine the stress from public comments that comes from working on an open source operating system. I don't use Mint but I'm hugely sympathetic to the devs who have to deal with the backlash from, of all things, a logo and website design change that they likely had little to no involvement with.
I worked for a while on a distro. The issue tracker is stressful for two main reasons. One, a lot of esoteric bugs that are hardware dependent. It's so frustrating to ask for help in testing to be ghosted or told 'no.' People don't seem to understand that as a small team, you don't have and won't buy all the hardware choices that exist to work on something for free. The second stressor are people being adament and pu…
> People don't seem to understand that as a small team, you don't have and won't buy all the hardware choices that exist to work on something for free.
that's why there shouldn't be as many distros. With fewer distros, it would be easier to test them on various configurations. Also it would make sure any fixes for specific hardware are used more widely, rather than ending up a patch in a single distro.
Re: Linux Mint's Sobering Update: A Glimpse into the Personal Struggles Devs Face
#10Now that I'm no longer super young, I am very much aware of the precious time every day where I can do valuable, creative work (outside work). From this subjective point of view I question if many open soure projects are truly worth it.
Valuable activities would 1. improve relevant, marketable skills 2. bring joy 3. help improve the world 4. make some money
It appears that many activities around maintaining a linux distro are mundane chores, compared to the learning process of, say, studying security issues deep inside the kernel. It certainly does not bring joy as reliable and immediate as, say, switching off the computer and going outside for some pickup basketball, and there are already plenty of linux distros out there, with marginal differences and little impact general progress. Nothing needs to be said regarding my #4.
So I will offer my unsolicited opintion: Life is short, focus your effort on things that are really worth it.