Comment by jasonmunro
7 years ago
I have been running Open Source projects for about 15 years, which implies moderating the communities around those projects (in my case, very small communities). I'm familiar with toxic environments. I once sent a very stupid question to the qmail mailing list - it did not go well for me. But I learned a lesson from that beat-down.
I make serious efforts to create an inclusive environment for my projects because that is what Open Source software is all about IMO. Any contribution deserves respect, it's a gift to the project. Maybe the PR needs some work, maybe it's total crap - but it's a gift either way and that should be respected.
It makes me sad to think people feel the need to maintain private repos just to avoid potential conflict with project maintainers because of toxic environments - but I understand that is a reality. I would like to counter that with the fact that not all projects are run that way, and some are very willing to accept contributions.
> It makes me sad to think people feel the need to maintain private repos just to avoid potential conflict with project maintainers because of toxic environments - but I understand that is a reality.
So you get sad for me because I am tired, burned out and want to get stuff done without the inevitable drama so many people feel they have to inject in everything?
Thank you for being sympathetic. ;)
This was half-sarcastic / half-serious.
---
On a totally serious note, you cannot at all blame anyone for wanting less -- or zero -- emotional baggage added to what should be a professional exchange of code and conversation points. I seriously cannot and will not care if somebody has a shitty life and spouts poison at me because I try to be helpful and they have nobody else to vent at the moment. I refuse to participate in a free therapy / rage unloading session with them.
As we get wiser, we start to get economical with our energy expenditures. Even more conservatively so with emotional expenditures. That one can feel like total crap after even one hour of drama is a harsh reality -- and the fact that many of us choose to avoid ruining our day is absolutely our right.
Nothing for you to feel sad about.