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points by tommica 3 days ago | 0 comments

> spend my valuable developer time (this is my free time)...

Lesson for us all is that if we do not own the thing/project/etc, things can suddenly change without our decision, and all time we put into it might become a waste-of-effort retroactively

[–] jewel 3 days ago

Debian is a special case (probably even among open source projects) because it has a well-developed system of governance:

https://www.debian.org/devel/constitution

It sounds like in this case someone is not following an agreed-upon policy. And of course, even with governance like this one, the rest of the maintainers can move in a direction you don't agree with.

[–] lukeify 3 days ago

Hate to say it but this is one of the primary reasons I can never get interested in contributing to open source.

[–] throw-qqqqq 3 days ago

Doesn’t this also apply to closed source software, but with the extra downsides that you can’t fork it etc.?

I contribute to open source software because it improves stuff I use and/or care about.

It seems too pessimistic, IMO, to abstain because things could potentially change to the worse, sometime in the future.

[–] sampullman 3 days ago

Yes, I think they're pretty much saying they don't want to contribute to projects they don't own.

[–] throw-qqqqq 3 days ago

To be fair, it is often a thankless job to contribute, especially if the project is popular (and thus get lots of low-quality PRs).

Patience and persistence helps, but it can be daunting IMO

[–] poszlem 3 days ago

Contributing to closed source usually involves getting paid for your work.

[–] throw-qqqqq 3 days ago

Sure, I see that point.

I replied as I did, because lukeify implied that lack of ownership is

> one of the primary reasons I can never get interested in contributing to open source

[–] calvinmorrison 2 days ago

don't let it stop you, but don't conflate open source with open core or 'democratic governance' etc.

Open source is open source. publishing code.

it does not mean

- you need to respond to peoples PRS

- it does not mean you need a github

- it does not mean you need to provide ANYTHING to the user. No warranty.

- you do not need a mailing list

- you do not need governance

Do what you want, have fun, if you have peers or other people interested in your area, feel free to collaborate in the same way you would with pickup basketball at the park, play, have fun, and leave when you're done.