Kelsey HightowerNov 23, 2022

The reason I stopped creating new open source projects was because I couldn't afford to maintain them.

I was expected to not only share my work, but continue adding new features, docs, and providing support for free, forever. It just wasn't sustainable for me.

Roman LutzNov 24, 2022
Show threadKelsey Hightower
That experience is why I have so much empathy for people working on open source, even those who are being paid to, because the job isn't easy, and wearing many hats is an understatement.
Nov 23, 2022 at 5:11pmMastodon for iOS
Show threadMatthias KNov 23, 2022

@kelseyhightower What has helped me the most is realizing that I don't care much about "succeeding" and more about scratching my own itches. Maybe I should even be happy that my projects never reached a big audience.

I tried formulating my thoughts about releasing Open Source software here https://406.ch/writing/my-rules-for-releasing-open-source-software/ but maybe I should amend and extend it... 😃

My rules for releasing open source software - Matthias Kestenholz

Show threadIan Bull 🇨🇦Nov 23, 2022

@kelseyhightower

It hit me about 8 years ago as I was trying fix build problems in the Eclipse IDE on a Saturday evening. My children (3, 5, 7 then) wanted to play but I was too busy. Then someone sent me a link to a site called I Hate Eclipse were people rant about the software.

It was at that point I walked away.

Show threadKelsey HightowerNov 23, 2022
@irbull it’s work I’m sure many have appreciated, but as you’ve learned, you gotta set boundaries.
Show threadOliver LibutzkiNov 23, 2022

@irbull @kelseyhightower That's why I hate this ranting about certain tools, frameworks, libraries or languages so much.

It's great to share what works best for us, but putting alternatives down is something that doesn't help anyone and hurts the people standing behind the ranted thing.

They often invested a lot of their lifetime in order to help others who not even pay for this.

Show threadKevin WittekNov 23, 2022
@oliver @irbull @kelseyhightower Yes, I also really hate this. Can't stand folks ranting about OSS projects such Maven or Jenkins. Even if we have more modern alternatives nowadays, these are legacy projects in the pure positive sense of the word, that were greatly influential to our industry.
Show threadJonathan DickinsonNov 24, 2022
@kiview @oliver @irbull @kelseyhightower I've been mulling over a GitHub diet where I work, and I was considering Jenkins. What exactly is the modern alternative?
Show threadKevin WittekNov 24, 2022
@jcdickinson @oliver @irbull @kelseyhightower What is a GitHub diet? Modern CIs are declarative ephemeral build environments to me, so something like GHA or Gitlab CI. Not sure if Jenkins provides such an experience in some variant.
Show threadJonathan DickinsonNov 24, 2022
@kiview @oliver @irbull @kelseyhightower slimming down on our GitHub usage. Self-hosting is looking really attractive with all the monkey business we've been through.
Show threadvidbinaDec 21, 2022

@jcdickinson @kiview @oliver @irbull @kelseyhightower curious to know more about that monkey business. Do you have some blogpost or another accounting of this that I can read?

Did you eval GitLab CI as an alt meanwhile? They provide a self-hosting route. You can even try a hybrid approach and use cloud GitLab with self-hosted runners. Self-hosting brings quite some overhead though.

With the right license, you can self-host GitHub iirc. Just don't know anyone who has actually done that yet. 🤔

Show threadvidbinaDec 21, 2022

@kiview @oliver @irbull @kelseyhightower I sometimes ranted about Jenkins and you just helped me realize how idiotic this was. Should be grateful for the work Jenkins did to help us to our current options in the CI/CD space.

Sometimes, I remind devs that complain about legacy code at work to appreciate the "work" that legacy delivered in sustaining the org or getting it to a point where there is the affordance to complain about things. It seems, I just forget to apply it to myself sometimes. 🤦🏿‍♂️

Show threadMonica Ayhens-MadonNov 23, 2022
@irbull @kelseyhightower Being able to step back to prioritize time with family and friends and other important things should be the norm - and dealing with vitriol like that site absolutely should not. Even if you walked away because of the latter, I hope it worked out for the benefit of the former.
Show threadPeter FrieseNov 23, 2022
@irbull Ian - I loved the work you did on Eclipse. Still singing the praises of features like quick fix etc and trying to convince the Xcode team to implement them - with some success! See https://twitter.com/peterfriese/status/1536074672370077697
Peter Friese on Twitter

“@edwardsanchez Thanks for adding the auto-indenting feature - this is such a useful feature! Here are a bunch of features I've been missing in Xcode:”

Twitter
Show threadIan Bull 🇨🇦Nov 23, 2022
@peterfriese Thanks!
Show threadnissyenNov 23, 2022
@kelseyhightower that reminds me of a weekend when my daughter was less than a year old where I struggled to compile a custom kennel with the right audio drivers for my laptop. I got it working, but didn’t get to spend any time with my daughter that weekend. I decided to switch to a Mac laptop when I next got the opportunity.
Show threadAykut Ersoy 🐘Nov 23, 2022
@irbull @kelseyhightower I feel like even if I'm making tonnes of money, I should still spend as much time as possible with my kids. Once, a wise man ( @shanselman ) told me that they leave when they turn 18.
Show threadReinhard LacknerNov 23, 2022
@aye @irbull @kelseyhightower @shanselman
Or even earlier than you expected :⁠-⁠(
Show threadAykut Ersoy 🐘Nov 23, 2022
@macf00bar @irbull @kelseyhightower @shanselman Very true :'(
Show threadSamir TalwarNov 23, 2022

@irbull @kelseyhightower I’m sorry to hear that. I have the opposite rant, regularly delivered to my colleagues, about how I’ve never experienced such fast feedback as I did with Eclipse 10 years ago. I think I’ve spent most of my career chasing the joy I got from seeing Eclipse compile my code and run my tests as I typed.

Thank you for your awesome work.

Show threadKyle K  Nov 23, 2022
@irbull @kelseyhightower when I wrote Java years ago, I used both Eclipse and NetBeans and they both had pros/cons. I preferred NetBeans at the time so I just used the tool I preferred without attacking the other. I have also used Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, and MacOS without hating the others. It’s just the right tool at the right time.
Show thread64kbNov 25, 2022
@irbull @kelseyhightower it's easy for people to forget there are others on the other end, as others mentioned boundaries are important, projects can eat you if you let them.
Show threadSven Tiffe Nov 23, 2022
@kelseyhightower agree. Navigating bazel.build and prioritizing work on Blaze/Bazel, on community contributions and on the wider ecosystem is a challenge.
I’d say it generally helps if the funding companies of open source(d) projects have a good idea what they would like to get out of it.
Show threadStephen MastersNov 23, 2022
@kelseyhightower It’s amazing that anyone maintains open source projects! I’m happy to dip in and help when I have the time and energy, but I know I can’t bring myself to commit that much of my spare time consistently and in perpetuity. Kudos to those who are prepared to do that!
Show threadJumar MacatoNov 23, 2022
@kelseyhightower I agree.. I hope that there's a better way of doing open source without feeling being exploited for your labor. I think sometimes the best way of doing it is to just drop the source there and let people figure it out haha
Show threadSamboyNov 23, 2022

@kelseyhightower Yeah, setting boundaries with open source is one of the more unpleasant experiences.

Some things I do:

• Remember, they are not customers until money has changed hands.
• If someone complains because the project does have some feature they want, immediately block them and delete their complaint about the missing feature.
• I only provide support in spaces with strong moderation where I am the moderator.
• I scratch my own itch, not anyone else’s itch.

Show threadsendilkumarnNov 23, 2022
@kelseyhightower we should build new open source models that encourage folks to be comfortable in putting their ideas out and classify them as applicable
Show threadindigoNov 23, 2022
The opportunity to learn so many different things, especially soft skills, is unbeaten to me.
Show threadMike BrownNov 26, 2022
@kelseyhightower your quandary reminds me of the dread pirate roberts story in the princes bride. Solo pirate project owner looking for someone to take the mantle so you can move on to the next chapter.