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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?

#81

Post by andris9 »

When I started with open source, I was hyped to get any feedback, bug reports, feature requests, and such, and I always tried to do my best to address these.

After 10+ years of maintaining popular projects (e.g., https://nodemailer.com/) and going through thousands of tickets in the process, I mostly ignore the incoming issues and requests now. Is it a clear bug I didn't know about – sure, I'll take it up as soon as possible. Anything else - I'll ignore it, don't even respond anything, and the stalebot will close that ticket in 30 days unless something additional comes up (usually it does not).

No one pays me for it, so I find my responsibilities to end at the point where the software is maintained and works on every supported platform. If someone does not like that, they can always fork the project.

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

#82

Post by sandreas »

zimbatm wrote: post #69

The best thing to do is to decide where your boundaries are, and then tell them. I was in your position many times. I was so frustrated to feel like the other person was entitled to my time. Then I had to fight my urges to tell them to fuck off, wasting even more time and energy in the process. Even if I replied, it wasn't helpful to anybody if I was being polite but passive-aggressive. Then I realized that it was a…

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...

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

#83

Post by zimbatm »

the_gipsy wrote: post #74
zimbatm wrote: post #69

The best thing to do is to decide where your boundaries are, and then tell them. I was in your position many times. I was so frustrated to feel like the other person was entitled to my time. Then I had to fight my urges to tell them to fuck off, wasting even more time and energy in the process. Even if I replied, it wasn't helpful to anybody if I was being polite but passive-aggressive. Then I realized that it was a…

And if 2. is "no" then let them know why not, but there is no need to "debate" it further either. Sometimes it's very important NOT to add features to a project. In fact I would argue that this is one of the strengths of OSS projects compared to "enterprise software".

Exactly.

Each software has a shape that makes sense, in the eye of the creator. That shape might change but it has to stay internally consistent somehow.

Unlike companies, we don't have to eternally grow the software to satisfy every customer and stay releavant. Projects come and go and this is a good thing.

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

#85

Post by kzrdude »

kramerger wrote: post #72
nivenkos wrote: post #42

"PRs welcome". If the source code is there they can do it themsleves.

Then comes the next issue: I really don't like this feature and then direction it will take my project, but this guy has spent hours and there isn't anything technically wrong with the code so I cannot reject it for that reason. Source: been there, done that, someone out there now hates my guts.

Right, so it's much better to scope the change first - responding to the feature request with this. Either it's out of scope or one can talk about what part of it would be in scope. Lots of projects have a policy of "talk to the devs before making big changes".

I would usually indicate negatively on the feature request if I don't believe it's in scope.

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

#86

Post by rvnx »

andris9 wrote: post #81

When I started with open source, I was hyped to get any feedback, bug reports, feature requests, and such, and I always tried to do my best to address these. After 10+ years of maintaining popular projects (e.g., https://nodemailer.com/ ) and going through thousands of tickets in the process, I mostly ignore the incoming issues and requests now. Is it a clear bug I didn't know about – sure, I'll take it up as soon as…

Is it a product made by employees of EmailEngine or how does it work ?

Intuitively I would find it super rude if commercial companies just ignore or send people away for open-source tooling that is directly used for their commercial product.

Like when there are Google APIs Python Client bugs and they don't care and just say "no clue, ask someone else at Google"

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

#87

Post by sanjayio »

FrenchDevRemote wrote: post #78

"Hi, Sorry but I/we don't have time for this feature, there is more urgent stuff that we need to work on. Also remember that we do this for free. So either do it yourself and make a PR or pay someone to do it, but we won't. Have a great day" close the discussion, if they reopen one, close it again until they get tired is it that hard?

This response comes off as a bit rude and presumptuous b/c it sounds like you’re accusing the Issue creator of saying “you have to make this”. That’s not clear from the OP. It would depend on what they wrote exactly in the Issue.

In the opening post, it sounds like they’re pitching an idea to get on a roadmap. I would let them know where something like the suggestion lands on the roadmap or if it’s too far down to consider.

I wouldn’t shut down an Issue idea like this unless you want to let everyone know you’re not taking any suggestions.

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

#89

Post by Freak_NL »

the_gipsy wrote: post #74
zimbatm wrote: post #69

The best thing to do is to decide where your boundaries are, and then tell them. I was in your position many times. I was so frustrated to feel like the other person was entitled to my time. Then I had to fight my urges to tell them to fuck off, wasting even more time and energy in the process. Even if I replied, it wasn't helpful to anybody if I was being polite but passive-aggressive. Then I realized that it was a…

And if 2. is "no" then let them know why not, but there is no need to "debate" it further either. Sometimes it's very important NOT to add features to a project. In fact I would argue that this is one of the strengths of OSS projects compared to "enterprise software".

Along with the 'no' it may help to point out that they are free to fork the project and add the feature to their own fork, or hire someone to build it for them. That won't stop the most extreme class of complainers, but it'll shave of another few.

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

#90

Post by robalni »

nfhshy68 wrote: post #61
robalni wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> simply paste in “Thank you for your request. Please see [URL]”. I think this can make people feel like you don't understand them and maybe make them angry. It feels like an automatic response you would post when you haven't even read the request. I think you should at least clearly say that you don't want the requested feature in the response, then you can link to the page.

That sounds like a them problem. "Pull requests welcome" if you want the feature. "Fork off" if you don't.

> That sounds like a them problem.

Yes and it's not nice to give people problems. It can even come back to you if they don't feel like they got a clear response and continue to bother you.

I like to communicate in ways that are clear, honest and complete because that way people get the information they want and we can understand each other. I think the world would be a better place if everyone did that and therefore it's what I recommend people to do.

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