Isn't it too exacting to collaborate on an open-source project?

AlfredoLlaquet

AlfredoLlaquet

I couldn't do it. From the outside, it seems that you have to read and navigate through an unending amount of information divided among multiple sites and wikis and mailing lists and whatnot, and you have to participate in discussions about very minor topics and read messages from people who can write a lot about said minor topics and have very strong opinions about them. I imagine myself spending much more time reading very boring things than doing real work. I don't like reading so much. I don't like pretending that I care about certain things.
 
I don’t think it’s that hard in practice. You don’t have to read everything or care about every discussion. You just pick a small area that interests you, fix one thing, improve one small part, and that’s it.
Over time you naturally learn what is relevant and what you can safely ignore. Open-source work doesn’t have to be about endless debates — it can be very practical and focused.

Out of pure passion and enthusiasm, I started by contributing to the documentation. Despite my inexperience, imp (Warren Losh) appreciated the update, especially since that section hadn’t been touched in a long time. It was accepted, and I was honestly very happy about it.

Reference: [https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/source-code-for-boot-or-bootloader.83647/#post-563966]
 
Not too different from other software development. The actual writing of the code is just a part. Much smaller than when writing fresh code alone.

And as you say, then there are strong opinions. Can get into actual bullying.
 
AlfredoLlaquet said:
Well, I worked in software development for most of my life and no one in my company ever got bullied.
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Good company then.

I didn't want to sound negative. Most of the interactions with people in open source projects are help and mentoring like. It's also great to see everybody on the BSD conferences.

It's just that sometimes you want to mess with what somebody else considers their turf. You have to be prepared to either fight or work on something else. That gets complicated when you work on a bigger thing mostly elsewhere, you just need to change a supporting bit on $TURF. It teaches you social skills.
 
cracauer@ said:
It teaches you social skills.
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If "social skills" means putting up with bullies and being fine with bullying being a part of the trade, I'm not interested in having social skills. So, for me, the idea that collaborating on an open-source project is not enticing at all stands.
 
AlfredoLlaquet said:
If "social skills" means putting up with bullies and being fine with bullying being a part of the trade, I'm not interested in having social skills. So, for me, the idea that collaborating on an open-source project is not enticing at all stands.
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Again, from my perspective it is not worse in open source than commercial.
 
"Isn't it too exacting to collaborate on an open-source project?"
AlfredoLlaquet, good question!
AlfredoLlaquet said:
From the outside, it seems that you have to read and navigate through an unending amount of information divided among multiple sites and wikis and mailing lists and whatnot, and you have to participate in discussions about very minor topics and read messages from people who can write a lot about said minor topics and have very strong opinions about them.
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If I may ask, at what were you looking at from outside? Did you have a particular open-source project in mind? Is it FreeBSD?
I guess it is FreeBSD because your reception sounds so familiar to me. And yes, just a little too strong opinions are a problem.
 
AlfredoLlaquet said:
Again, that is not my experience. I worked in commercial software for more than 30 years.
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In commercial, people tend to usually be of a guaranteed quality (skills and social skills) or they simply wouldn't have been employed.

With open-source, you are technically working with random people from the internet, thus the vetting is up to you. You can offset some of the risk by working on projects with "like minded" people.
 
POSIX.1 said:
at what were you looking at from outside? Did you have a particular open-source project in mind? Is it FreeBSD?
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I was wondering in general. I wasn't thinking about any project in particular. Anyway, I'm not the type of person who would participate in a large open source project because I don't like that there are people who make a living out of large open-source projects while others work for free.
 
mer said:
Anyone that has worked in Engineering or Software for a while, realizes that
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Anything that could complete that sentence is not true. You don't know everyone who has worked in engineering or software for a while, so you cannot talk for all of them. You are talking about your personal realization.
Also, hierarchy and bullying are not related concepts from my point of view. To say, "we'll do this my way because it is within my authority to decide it" is not bullying. Bullying is saying "your opinion is invalid because you don't know enough about this topic" (and much worse things). Bullying is unacceptable. Hierarchy is necessary.
 
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