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Dumb ways for an open source project to die

nesbitt.io

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Re: Dumb ways for an open source project to die

#21

Post by Lerc »

john_strinlai wrote: post #11
chadgpt3 wrote: post #3

What's the smart way?

> The Melbourne Metro safety campaign this post is named after closes with “be safe around trains,” which is more actionable than anything I’ve got. so, just be safe about it, i guess.

I was reading though thinking that only a few of these were dumb.

I wondered if it was a reference to Dumb Ways to Die, but thought that was a bit obscure for a reference. Turns out, apparantly not.

I think if I had have gone to all that work to write this list I would have given each one a dumbness score to communicate that circumstances are not equal.

Re: Dumb ways for an open source project to die

#22

Post by HerbManic »

sva_ wrote: post #6
chadgpt3 wrote: post #3

What's the smart way?

The key term is "responsible sunsetting".

Yep, if you are going to leave a project as leader, either see if someone else wants to take over or leave a note that the project isn't being updated.

If you are really motivated, leave instructions on how someone else can pick up were you left off even if it is just an email address others can reach out to.

Re: Dumb ways for an open source project to die

#23

Post by Lammy »

chmaynard wrote: post #12

Then there's Jekyll, which is not exactly dead but definitely moribund. It seems to be blocked by GitHub's refusal to support further development and upgrade to the 4.x releases.

Ignoring the GitHub Pages issue, What does Jekyll 4.x not-do that you want it to do?

Re: Dumb ways for an open source project to die

#24

Post by foxglacier »

ndepoel wrote: post #4

Here's another: code was open sourced with every intention of becoming a thriving community-driven project, but in practice users only take from the code what they want for their own needs and never contribute back, or expect the maintainer to solve all of their integration issues for them. Eventually, the maintainer decides that they have better things to do than fixing other people's problems, and that there is mor…

It sounds like the maintainer you're describing was underhandedly helping their users with the silent expectation that they also contribute back to the project and got bitter when it didn't happen that way.

Open source is altruistic, remember. You explicitly tell the world that you are happy for anyone to only take from the code what they want for their own needs and never contribute back. If you don't want to help users or develop your software alone, an alternative is to sell the software and support service to users and use the money to hire developers.

Re: Dumb ways for an open source project to die

#26

Post by prymitive »

Call me old but there was a time when “open source project” meant “I had a problem, this is my solution, if someone has the same problem then you are free to use my solution”. These days is more: - building personal brand - showcasing your skills - trying to outsmart somebody else, often because they didn’t merge your pr - sometimes just having fun

And if you work for big org it’s also often “this looks vaguely similar to one of our epics so let’s start using it and demand 24/7 support”

Re: Dumb ways for an open source project to die

#27

Post by ZeWaka »

Lerc wrote: post #21
john_strinlai wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The Melbourne Metro safety campaign this post is named after closes with “be safe around trains,” which is more actionable than anything I’ve got. so, just be safe about it, i guess.

I was reading though thinking that only a few of these were dumb. I wondered if it was a reference to Dumb Ways to Die, but thought that was a bit obscure for a reference. Turns out, apparantly not. I think if I had have gone to all that work to write this list I would have given each one a dumbness score to communicate that circumstances are not equal.

> a bit obscure for a reference

one of the most viral videos from 2012 is obscure?

Re: Dumb ways for an open source project to die

#28

Post by chasil »

Is this a play on the rail safety videos?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IJNR2EpS0jw

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eq-GYfRjxhM

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yhJJws3kgzY

Edit: Yes.

"The Melbourne Metro safety campaign this post is named after closes with “be safe around trains,” which is more actionable than anything I’ve got."

Re: Dumb ways for an open source project to die

#29

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

> Thesis orphan

Phun Phact of the Day: Adobe Photoshop was sort of Tom Knoll's thesis orphan, but he didn't exactly abandon it.

I have a bunch of repos that I have no intention of updating. I make it a point to always archive them; usually with a note in the README.

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