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Ask HN: How to say no to a GitHub issue feature request?

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Re: Ask HN: How to say no to a GitHub issue feature request?

#201

Post by stickfigure »

Don't say no. But don't say yes. Feature requests can live in the issue tracker indefinitely, they aren't an obligation on your part.

If someone is insistent, ask if they're interested in submitting a PR. Or if they're interested in paying for that feature to be developed. If it's small, this is a good way to get some of your amazon wishlist items filled.

If they're being inappropriate, just block them like any other troll on the internet.

If the feature is genuinely something that doesn't make sense for the project, mark it as wontfix and briefly explain why you think it's out of scope. If you're feeling generous, mention some other solution that might solve their problem.

Don't take it personally. It's just some rando on the internet.

Re: Ask HN: How to say no to a GitHub issue feature request?

#202

Post by rglover »

"No, thank you. That's not something I'd like to add at the moment."

Just be a straight G about it. I've gone after people and make a point to embarrass them if they try to extort me into doing something or make some passive-aggressive comment to goad me. Works a peach.

This attitude, but applied to other developers on Github, not clients: https://medium.com/@menichols/i-aint-scared-of-you-motherfuc....

Re: Ask HN: How to say no to a GitHub issue feature request?

#204

Post by josephcsible »

Which of these "no"s are you trying to say?

1. I'm not interested in implementing this feature, but if you pay me then I will anyway

2. I'm not interested in implementing this feature even if you pay me, but if you write a PR for it I'll merge it

3. I'm not interested in this feature at all and don't want it even if you write a PR for it

If it's 1 or 2, then just saying that is good enough. If it's 3, then you should explain a little bit what's wrong with the idea.

Re: Ask HN: How to say no to a GitHub issue feature request?

#205

Post by xdfgh1112 »

josephcsible wrote: post #204

Which of these "no"s are you trying to say? 1. I'm not interested in implementing this feature, but if you pay me then I will anyway 2. I'm not interested in implementing this feature even if you pay me, but if you write a PR for it I'll merge it 3. I'm not interested in this feature at all and don't want it even if you write a PR for it If it's 1 or 2, then just saying that is good enough. If it's 3, then you should…

Perfect. You could literally just reply with one of those.

Re: Ask HN: How to say no to a GitHub issue feature request?

#206

Post by ilaksh »

I don't even let paying customers make feature request lists. Lol. If they want a feature they can ask directly in a chat message. If it's not one of the one or two priorities that are next then we can discuss it on the following iteration in a few days or a week.

Re: Ask HN: How to say no to a GitHub issue feature request?

#207

Post by Freak_NL »

atoav wrote: post #154
tut-urut-utut wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why pointing out something that is a distinguishing feature of open source? I don’t need your permission to fork off the license allow me to, but telling me that I’d like putting a comment like „btw, did you know that 2+2=4“.

> Why pointing out something that is a distinguishing feature of open source? Because users exist who are: - clever enough to use github and open an issue - not clever enough to know this is a possibility - care about their problem enough to complain, but not enough to do something about it By basically telling users "if you really care, you could do $labori tensivething" often they realize that they do in fact not c…

> By basically telling users "if you really care, you could do $laborintensivething" often they realize that they do in fact not care enough.

That's the trick. Instead of offering no way to get the feature they want (which means they'll try to convince you to do it anyway), you show that they can in fact get that feature — for a price probably beyond their reach, but that's not something you can remedy, so hopefully they'll leave it at “I can't do/afford that”.

Re: Ask HN: How to say no to a GitHub issue feature request?

#209

Post by halostatue »

josephcsible wrote: post #204

Which of these "no"s are you trying to say? 1. I'm not interested in implementing this feature, but if you pay me then I will anyway 2. I'm not interested in implementing this feature even if you pay me, but if you write a PR for it I'll merge it 3. I'm not interested in this feature at all and don't want it even if you write a PR for it If it's 1 or 2, then just saying that is good enough. If it's 3, then you should…

There may be nothing wrong with the idea, but it’s not a feature that the author thinks is correct for their project.
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