Comment by palata
3 days ago
> I guess there's no other way to justify the uncompromising attitude he somehow developed.
I disagree. When someone open sources code, they give away some of their work for free. That's all, and that's nice.
I really don't get how so many people think that if you give away some of your work for free, then you must give even more work away for free because they consider it "basic decency".
> people think that if you give away some of your work for free, then you must give even more work away for free because they consider it "basic decency".
I didn't say that and I have no moral objections to the hardline attitude you seem to like, I respect that choice.
However, we have to be careful here, every author may have to take a firm stance from time to time, but that's not a good idea for all or most of the time, thus the latter isn't the best for everyone or every project, a lot of authors will be happier with different approaches.
Building a project is a lot about building a community around it and while I understand that not everyone can do it, I prefer those who can for completely rational reasons.
We've entered a time when OSS is becoming more important while the technical part of it is becoming less problematic, in this environment interpersonal skills grow in importance and it would be hard to manage a successful project without them.
> Building a project is a lot about building a community around it and while I understand that not everyone can do it, I prefer those who can for completely rational reasons.
And I totally agree with that!
I am not saying that authors must take a firm stance. What I am saying is that users need to understand that they are not entitled to anything at all. It's all bonus.
I do help the users of the projects I maintain, as much as I can. Still they are not entitled to anything at all, I do it because I'm trying to be nice. And what I see is that it's not rare for them to not understand that; they behave as if it was my job.