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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

#81

Post by kyawzazaw »

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?

that means they have to commit to those hours on a regular basis

Re: Open source projects should run office hours

#82

Post by kyawzazaw »

ianlevesque wrote: post #74
an_opabinia wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand, $250 was probably way too little money. I question the wisdom of helping people who are professional be-at-the-right-place-at-the-right-timers. That includes people working for giant companies messaging open source maintainers, or any number of total inequities.

What if you want a referral into one of those giant companies someday? Can't hurt to know a guy...

you could just write a post on teamblind.com if you are that level or just make a tweet

Re: Open source projects should run office hours

#83

Post by pabs3 »

Software Freedom Conservancy is one such project, they have weekly IRC chats on Thursdays and have done for about a year now.

https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2020/mar/12/virtualchat/ https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2020/jul/29/virtualchat2/

I think the Reproducible Builds folks were also planning to have an office hours, not sure if it lasted though.

https://lists.reproducible-builds.org/pipermail/rb-general/2...

Re: Open source projects should run office hours

#84

Post by dxdm »

zwegner wrote: post #70
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.

I came into the comments section to see what this article is all about and whether I want to read it, thinking it would be about working on open source projects only 9 am to 5 pm. So this comment helped me a lot, and I'm voting it up so that it may stay on top.

Re: Open source projects should run office hours

#85

Post by _Microft »

simonw wrote: post #48
lolsal wrote: post #7

Anyone can run office hours for any of their open source projects they want - that sounds great! But I won't and I don't feel any sort of obligation to do so, so I don't think 'should' is really appropriate here.

Yeah, with hindsight I should have picked a different word. The message I'm trying to get across here is that I've found office hours to be incredibly valuable, and other maintainers should seriously consider adopting the same trick.

Keep in mind that you are only going to hear the voices of those who did not understand. Those who did had no reason to comment on it.

Re: Open source projects should run office hours

#86

Post by chalst »

chrismorgan wrote: post #80
stevoski wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went to University in Australia and I don’t recall this term being in use. (Could be my faulty memory, though. It was a long time ago!) I’m still a little puzzled by exactly what is meant when people and orgs offer an “office hours” concept. I’d love a clear but concise definition that’s not simply “like office hours in university”.

I’ve come across it in various largely-Americentric writing and figured out the concept, but yeah, it’s not something I’ve seen practised in Australia. It means “I will always be available in my office during such-and-such hours every week, for anyone to come and talk to.” I think it’s normally a walk-in affair rather than involving making appointments. First come, first serve, but now you don’t have to go through th…

It's common in Germany, called "Sprechstunde" ("speaking hours").

Re: Open source projects should run office hours

#90

Post by matkoniecz »

I have deep aversion to "Open source projects should run office hours" title.

Maybe "Office hours may be a good idea for open source projects"? This would not suggest obligation.

In general, fact that someone created or maintains or supports open source projects should not be considered to create any obligations beyond lack of malice and abuse.

I am not obligated to support any bugs, create any features and it is perfectly fine to delete all my repos at any time (unless I declared otherwise).

I am also not obligated to support anything, help with anything, there is no guarantee of uptime, office hours, resolving issues or anything else.

If you want obligations, guarantees or anything like that - feel free to hire a given developer.

Many such things are good ideas and some people may decide to promise them (if you describe something as secure then you declared to handle security issues timely). But I reject idea of being obligated to do any of above.

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