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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?

#211
Along with "Feature Request" and "WONTFIX" perhaps an option of "Maybe Someday" could make it clear that it's a known request but it's very much not on the top of the priority list.

Edit: maybe also "Poor Fit" for things that are between "someday" and "never."

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

#212

"This feature is a bit out of scope"(if applicable). "Our team, aka me, has limited time for this project, and I just don't have the bandwidth. I can answer questions or possibly collaborate if you'd like to have a go at the code yourself though." "This is a personal/internal use project made available to the community as is, and adding features outside of what I need for my own company is not a priority. You're welc…

This comment would invite argument ("a bit out of scope", i.e. if it were slightly modified I'd be open to it), which is what OP is trying to avoid.

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

#214
Mark as 'wontfix' and close. If they reopen, ban them, with a comment explaining why if you want ("I'm banning you because your feature requests are not welcome").

It's really important to communicate that you are distressed. Remember, it's quite likely they think they are not causing any distress, and probably would prefer to know than cause any additional harm. Banning them accomplishes this. It also has the additional benefit that if the person is not being conscientious, they no longer can annoy you.

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

#216

I tag all new issues that come as “Feature Request”, “Bug”, etc. and then as far as I’m concerned, unless I’m interested in the issue, my work is done. Those then serve as an excellent roadmap for anyone who wants to contribute, but my projects are built for me and I work on the parts I want and need. I also use GH automation to auto-close issues after a year. If no one cares enough to implement the change in a year,…

I would be careful about auto-closing issues after a year. It's quite possible that some issues are genuine but for various reasons (time required, difficulty of the problem, etc...) people might not do anything about it right away. You can check the feature requests or bugs databases for large projects like Firefox or WebKit for example and find plenty of entries that are several years old yet those entries often still have comments being made which shows that at least some people care about them.

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

#217
It's pretty simple. "they won't pay at all": would you want to add the feature if he paid you? Then tell him that.

Don't want the feature? Just say no, close the issue and move on. Especially if your project is MIT licensed, it's crystal clear in the license that very one thing: you don't owe anything to anyone :) You don't need to be nice, you don't need to explain. Life's too complicated to be upset about those things.

If the person keeps on insisting after that, you can block him from GitHub.

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

#219
post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you would like to see an example of a polite and meaningful discussion I had with a maintainer declining my feature request, you could read this: https://github.com/nblumhardt/serilog-timings/issues/52 But I would not expect every requester to be polite and accept a NO...

Perfect example, thanks for sharing.

You're welcome :-)
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