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Open source projects should run office hours

simonwillison.net

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Re: Open source projects should run office hours

#61

Post by hardwaresofton »

simonw wrote: post #50
hardwaresofton wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To riff on this I think this weird expectation of projects to "grow" is a side effect of the increasing corporate influence on F/OSS. So many conference talks' second slide is a "numbers" slide wit how many github stars, active contributors and other vanity metrics. It strikes me that the point is not just to convey that the project has an ecosystem behind it (with the implication there being that you can get free fe…

My goal with Datasette is to grow a plugin ecosystem that provides a wide range of extra feature which I didn't have to build myself - so in my case I have a strong incentive to attract more users for non-vanity reasons.

This riff was much less about Datasette and more about other projects (let's say the latest CNCF incubation stage project). Not that I'm important but I distinguish small-ish (or even projects that have grown larger) trying to publicize to attract more talent, but that smells different than large professional-looking efforts for open-core software or shareware which I often also see. Someone putting a "hey we're 1000 strong, come join us and contribute" at FOSSDEM is different than a company with some light VC funding talking about Github stars and "engagement" at Kubecon.

Datasette is a great project and in the traditional F/OSS sense is delivering an intense amount of value off the backs of passionate volunteers (for better or for worse) -- Thanks for making it and persisting in making it better.

Office hours working great for Datasette is fantastic (thanks for sharing) and you arguably an objective benefit to the world with the amount you've already created and released. I don't think it's right for every single open source project but more power to you. This riff definitely wasn't meant to poo-poo your approach.

Re: Open source projects should run office hours

#62

Post by hardwaresofton »

sellyme wrote: post #53
hardwaresofton wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To riff on this I think this weird expectation of projects to "grow" is a side effect of the increasing corporate influence on F/OSS. So many conference talks' second slide is a "numbers" slide wit how many github stars, active contributors and other vanity metrics. It strikes me that the point is not just to convey that the project has an ecosystem behind it (with the implication there being that you can get free fe…

Open source developers presumably tend to work on projects that they genuinely like and are passionate about. Aiming to help as many people as possible in a subject you're passionate about seems extremely natural to me.

Agreed, this is something that is incredibly obvious when there's no money involved. It's naive, wasteful in a sense (your time could theoretically be used for other things), but that's the open source that everyone respects/admires.

Every once in a while I go back and think of the origins of the F/OSS movement -- the idea is insane on it's face. Labor to make software, then give it away, and license it in a way that anyone who uses it is also forced to give it away? Who would fund/contribute to such a thing? How insane I think that concept is assurance that I consider myself a capitalist on the economic policy spectrum.

Re: Open source projects should run office hours

#63

Post by AshleighBasil »

haskal wrote: post #38
thunderbong wrote: post #35

I think a lot of the comments are concluding from the title that open source maintainers should be working on the projects during office hours. That is not what the article is suggesting. From the article - >> anyone can book a 25 minute conversation with me on a Friday to talk about the project. I’m interested in talking to people who are using Datasette, or who are considering using it, or who just want to have a c…

I thought "office hours" is a common term in universities?

Some people didn't go to university, or are too young (I'm 15 but I wanna go one day)

Re: Open source projects should run office hours

#64

Post by victor9000 »

sillysaurusx wrote: post #3

I've had massive success with this in ML. My twitter DMs have become almost-daily office hour sessions with people trying to solve hard ML problems. The last fellow was so happy he venmo'd me $250 after I merely asked for "pay whatever you thought that was worth." Apparently putting "DMs open" in your twitter bio is an excellent way to meet new people. Also, tweet (often!) about what you're working on. Post lots of q…

What are some of the more interesting problems you've encountered using this approach?

Re: Open source projects should run office hours

#65

Post by vinger »

daveed wrote: post #27

Hi! If you're thinking of giving office hours for your project... I've been working on a site ( http://booktime.xyz/ ) that's meant for this. It's like a calendly where you can manage different meeting types more easily, they can be paid or unpaid, and we keep your contact private. Feel free to email me at (david@booktime.xyz) too. We've been polishing it up, and I'm happy to take feedback.

Can I book a slot in your office hour window to talk about using your service or do I need to email you?

Re: Open source projects should run office hours

#67

Post by ehwhyreally »

haskal wrote: post #38
thunderbong wrote: post #35

I think a lot of the comments are concluding from the title that open source maintainers should be working on the projects during office hours. That is not what the article is suggesting. From the article - >> anyone can book a 25 minute conversation with me on a Friday to talk about the project. I’m interested in talking to people who are using Datasette, or who are considering using it, or who just want to have a c…

I thought "office hours" is a common term in universities?

Back in my day I.T was learning how to use microsoft word.

Re: Open source projects should run office hours

#68

Post by johannes1234321 »

haskal wrote: post #38
thunderbong wrote: post #35

I think a lot of the comments are concluding from the title that open source maintainers should be working on the projects during office hours. That is not what the article is suggesting. From the article - >> anyone can book a 25 minute conversation with me on a Friday to talk about the project. I’m interested in talking to people who are using Datasette, or who are considering using it, or who just want to have a c…

I thought "office hours" is a common term in universities?

It is a common term in different areas, however not everybody here comes from an English speaking country and is knowing all English terms. For many English is second or third language.

Re: Open source projects should run office hours

#70

Post by zwegner »

thunderbong wrote: post #35

I think a lot of the comments are concluding from the title that open source maintainers should be working on the projects during office hours. That is not what the article is suggesting. From the article - >> anyone can book a 25 minute conversation with me on a Friday to talk about the project. I’m interested in talking to people who are using Datasette, or who are considering using it, or who just want to have a c…

Do any of the comments actually make that conclusion? The other comment you replied to is the only one I saw that even comes close, but it mentions "if you can offer office hours..." so the poster clearly knew the "office hours" idiom.
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