This Is a True Story Tha…

Metadata

• Author: @slicknet on Twitter
• Full Title: This Is a True Story Tha…
• Category: #type/tweets
• URL: https://twitter.com/slicknet/status/1430334633611202562

Highlights

• This is a true story that isn’t about open source but makes sense in the context of open source. I repeat, this is a 100% true story that isn’t about open source but gives a good idea about what it’s like to maintain an open source project. Ready? Here we go. (View Tweet)
• Many years ago I had a serious girlfriend. One night while watching TV, she said to me, “babe, can we get a puppy?“ This was surprising to me and came right out of the blue. Immediately I was perplexed by the question. (View Tweet)
• “What do you mean by, ‘can we get a puppy?’” I asked. We didn’t live together so the word “we“ was the most confusing part of the question. What followed made the suggestion very clear. (View Tweet)
• “I think it would be fun to have a puppy. They’re so cute and having pets is great.“ “And where would the puppy live?“ “With you.“ “I am not seeing the ‘we’ part of this.” “Well, I would play with it and take it out for walks when I come to visit.“ (View Tweet)
• “So what I’m hearing is not that we would get a puppy, but that I would get a puppy that you would get to play with when you visited but otherwise not have to take care of it.” “Well, I guess that’s one way to look at it.” “Then the answer is no, we can’t get a puppy.” (View Tweet)
• What does this have to do with open source? A lot of people suggest a lot of changes to open source projects not understanding that there is a maintenance cost to every new line of code added. (View Tweet)
• The person coming up with the idea thinks that it’s great because they aren’t the ones that have to maintain it. But to the maintainers, you are suggesting that “we“ should get a puppy but in reality you won’t be helping to take care of it. (View Tweet)
• So the next time you propose what you think is a great idea to a project, and the maintainers decline, think of it from this perspective: are you suggesting we get a puppy or are you willing to chip in and help take care of the puppy? (View Tweet)
• And before I get hate-tweets from dog lovers — I wasn’t opposed to getting a puppy if she would have split the responsibilities. But that wasn’t the proposal. ❤️🐶 (View Tweet)

This Is a True Story Tha…

Metadata

• Author: @slicknet on Twitter
• Full Title: This Is a True Story Tha…
• Category: #type/tweets
• URL: https://twitter.com/slicknet/status/1430334633611202562

Highlights

• This is a true story that isn’t about open source but makes sense in the context of open source. I repeat, this is a 100% true story that isn’t about open source but gives a good idea about what it’s like to maintain an open source project. Ready? Here we go. (View Tweet)
• Many years ago I had a serious girlfriend. One night while watching TV, she said to me, “babe, can we get a puppy?“ This was surprising to me and came right out of the blue. Immediately I was perplexed by the question. (View Tweet)
• “What do you mean by, ‘can we get a puppy?’” I asked. We didn’t live together so the word “we“ was the most confusing part of the question. What followed made the suggestion very clear. (View Tweet)
• “I think it would be fun to have a puppy. They’re so cute and having pets is great.“ “And where would the puppy live?“ “With you.“ “I am not seeing the ‘we’ part of this.” “Well, I would play with it and take it out for walks when I come to visit.“ (View Tweet)
• “So what I’m hearing is not that we would get a puppy, but that I would get a puppy that you would get to play with when you visited but otherwise not have to take care of it.” “Well, I guess that’s one way to look at it.” “Then the answer is no, we can’t get a puppy.” (View Tweet)
• What does this have to do with open source? A lot of people suggest a lot of changes to open source projects not understanding that there is a maintenance cost to every new line of code added. (View Tweet)
• The person coming up with the idea thinks that it’s great because they aren’t the ones that have to maintain it. But to the maintainers, you are suggesting that “we“ should get a puppy but in reality you won’t be helping to take care of it. (View Tweet)
• So the next time you propose what you think is a great idea to a project, and the maintainers decline, think of it from this perspective: are you suggesting we get a puppy or are you willing to chip in and help take care of the puppy? (View Tweet)
• And before I get hate-tweets from dog lovers — I wasn’t opposed to getting a puppy if she would have split the responsibilities. But that wasn’t the proposal. ❤️🐶 (View Tweet)