EDIT: don't take this particular post as the whole truth, just illustration: https://lobste.rs/s/funkm6/why_i_m_not_collaborating_with_kenneth

https://kennethreitz.org/essays/2026-03-18-open_source_gave_me_everything_until_i_had_nothing_left_to_give hurts so much to read...

We may not know each other, but if you are a maintainer of a project (open source or not), let it be yet another cautionary tale of the uncomfortable truth: No-one should sacrifice their health for their craft!

Too many people in our community end up burning out, or even taking their own lives... this *has* *to* *stop*!

* Yes, please take pride in your work, but don't tie your identity to it! Building a *trusted* community of contributors is even more fun anyway.

* Yes, listen to your community, but don't make yourself responsible for the success of the project!

I really would like to see @sima's attempt from 2017 at a Maintainer’s Manifest come to fruition and get widely applied: https://blog.ffwll.ch/2017/01/maintainers-dont-scale.html . I certainly am very grateful for having been exposed to her warnings and recommendation. It definitely made my burnout way less severe than it could have been (even then, I will never be the same again, for better and worse), and pushed me deeper into building testing automation to make reviews less painful for everyone while also increasing quality!