Comment by Isamu
7 years ago
> You are responsible for your own needs. If you want things, make them.
>I am grateful for the contributions of the community. Every Clojure release incorporates many contributions. [...] Open source is a no-strings-attached gift, and all participants should recognize it as such.
>The time to re-examine preconceptions about open source is right now. Morale erosion amongst creators is a real thing.
Sad that it has to be said. I think as a creator you need to brace yourself for the reality of what it means to offer something to the world. There is a sort of normal distribution of consumers and some can be surprisingly toxic.
Interestingly, this isn't just isolated to open source. I've heard similar sentiments expressed by artists of popular works, including but not limited to:
- Game developers
- Authors of popular novels that have yet to finish ("GRRM is not your bitch")
- Star Wars
As a game developer: Amen!
I had been doing that a long time when one of my producers (on his first game) wanted to be on the forums to interact with "fans". I think he was excited and thought it would be satisfying to interact with people who were playing the game we developed. I remember thinking it would be like that when I started. Don't get me wrong, most gamers, like most people, are terrific. But they get drowned out by the disgruntled.
Then you better stick to that classical sales model that seems to be on the way out. The minute you sell the full package of an unfinished products, people will feel entitled to what they expect it to be (rightfully, imo). So you'd should avoid Pre-Purchase, Season Pass and some degree Early Access. I'm torn about the latter, since it is supposed to be sold "as is" with no expectations, but don't think this is was most actually do.
Also how do you think about post launch updates to fix bugs? Those seem to be generally expected as well, now.
2 replies →
With open source you have an easy recourse: the fork.
With a game, movie or another peice of culture, the law can hinder your fork. If you want to make the Star Wars episode you wish had existed, you have to navigate the tretcherous waters of fair use and copyright. There are also plenty of tales of indie game developers attempting to remix a game from their childhood on a new platform only to get a cease and desist as soon as the rights holders get wind of it.
You are perfectly entitled to write that Star Wars fanfic. Here's a whole directory of it: https://www.fanfiction.net/movie/Star-Wars/
You are not entitled to make money off it, just like you aren't entitled to make money off that open source project you forked.
16 replies →
If you are productive you will have enemies.
Perhaps even, the more productive you are, the more enemies you will make.
People who are particularly unproductive tend to think that the world owes them something.
As Carnegie used to write, "no one ever kicks a dead dog". Also, the more important the 'dog', the more satisfaction some people derive from kicking it. So unfounded and nasty criticism is probably best seen as validating that your work is making some impact.
1 reply →
Continuing your list:
- Twitch streamers
- songwriters
- composers
- screenwriters
I think it might be a part of any artistic endeavour: you'd probably have to have a list of creative efforts that don't have this problem to try to get a smaller list.
As Steven Pressfield tells us in The War of Art:
"The artist committing himself to his calling has volunteered for hell, whether he knows it or not. He will be dining for the duration on a diet of isolation, rejection, self-doubt, despair, ridicule, contempt, and humiliation."
Thank you for pointing this out, there are so many niches where fans/consumers are taking the creators to task for some grievance or other.
One positive way to interpret this is to recognize that fans are passionate and want the project to succeed and fulfill all their dreams.
But reality is a harsh mistress and not all dreams will be realized.
This is the rational approach, but it is not in accordance with human nature.
Human nature is fanboys. Picture sports supporters. They will perceive a relationship that you may have never intended. They will wave your flag and they will sing your praise and they will cheer you on. And they will expect you to live up to the grandiose image they have of you, and will punish you when you "betray" them.
I think people are certainly taking note of these "entitled" comments when they decide what to get emotionally invested in. If I know ahead of time you "wont be my bitch" maybe I'll save myself some grief and not get started with your series.
Bitcoin is an interesting case. It has very deliberately rewarded it's early adopters and fanboys, and that strategy paid of very well.
To be fair, there is a difference between someone who gives away something, be it software or otherwise, and someone who sells something.
Not the same thing at all - those are commercial products. If someone has paid for a product and feels it was missold then yes, they are entitled to leave a review. Especially since cinemas don’t offer refunds to dissatisfied customers.
You know, I wrote a number of successful open source packages. By and large, feedback is positive, or at least utilitarian: bug reports, feature requests, questions. But there is also the occasional angry user, or, rarely, a simple thank you.
Recently, I published my first-ever commercial video game plugin. And was dumbfounded by the sheer positivity of the response. People thanked me! I got dozens of purely positive emails. I had never experienced such a thing in my Open Source work.
If we had more of that in Open Source, maybe maintainership wouldn't be such a burden.
I wouldn't dare writing just to say "thank you", it would feel like a no-op wasting people time. Instead, I would rather star the project on github. Did you consider those as thanks?
Having published some apps a few years ago, the occasional thank you mail can be a real moral boost. Dehumanized interaction such as staring a project is not of the same category.
3 replies →
So I'll say that saying "thank you" is a highly valuable activity. It boosts people's spirits and makes them feel appreciated. Remember: we're humans and somewhat touchy feely. Gratitude is motor oil for us.
Also, tragically the world is wired to provide feedback mostly of the negative kind. This is useful to receive but also it's an unfortunate skew. Positive feedback with a few details about what is good are a hugely valuable contribution.
But if you don't have that amount of time, saying "thanks" alone is worth the keystrokes. :-)
1 reply →
Here is a trick: don't engage with those people.
Someone said bad words to you on the internet? Close your browser tab: you're done. Learn that you can't please everyone and you're better alone than with bad company.
I don't know if it's because a lot of drama queens and marketing people populate social media but it feels like most people can't fucking live without the approval of everyone when reading some websites.
If you want to bring conference in (it's IRL, can't close a tab) here is how to react: when someone start telling you shit, stop speaking, turn 180°, go join another group of people. It's rude? So what? Some person is now fuming while you're stress-free and engaging with better people.
Learn to ignore people. Learn to say no. You don't have to please anyone.
Words of wisdom that truly matches yours from Tyler, The Creator: https://twitter.com/tylerthecreator/status/28567082226430771...
How do you know when you are interacting with one of "those people"? Even better, how can I join a conversation without being written off as one of them?
> how can I join a conversation without being written off as one of them
Usually "treat others like you'd like to be treated" is a good heuristic. If not I'd encourage you to seek a therapist and start working on yourself.
Yes , it's the reality, i think it's better for the creator to learn and act to be the actual dictator. This might mean ignoring those community suggestion/request that they don't like. kinda like linus which I admire.
The attitude of many is strangely feudal: "I (potential contributor) offer my fealty (using your code) to you (author), and in exchange you owe me protection (features)." These people are under the impression that authors ought to be impressed that somebody uses their code, which is not the case. Lots of users are nothing but a weight that drags you down: if you want to swim, you must cut them loose ASAP.