Open Source Does Not Imply Open Community – Makefile.feld
Open source software originally existed without formal communities, relying on simple methods like email and FTP, but platforms like GitHub have transformed it into a demanding, community-driven endeavor that often leads to maintainer burnout. The author argues that open source does not require public collaboration, code of conduct policies, or constant engagement with strangers. Developers should feel free to return to simpler, more private models of sharing code without the pressures of modern open source expectations.
- ▪Open source originally involved minimal interaction, using tools like email, FTP, and mailing lists.
- ▪GitHub transformed open source into a high-pressure environment resembling a second job for maintainers.
- ▪The author advocates for returning to simpler, less public methods of sharing code to avoid burnout and loss of control.
- ▪Open source does not require public issue trackers, pull requests, or community management to be valid.
- ▪Large collaborative projects are the exception, not the norm, in open source development.
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Open Source Does Not Imply Open Community #meta Open source software has existed long before the invention of the (D)VCS. The author likely hosted a barebones HTML webpage or a txt file describing the project. There definitely was an FTP server somewhere with tarballs. The author may have been reachable by email. If you were really lucky, there was a mailing list you could sign up for to receive announcements and maybe discuss the software with other interested parties. There might have been an unofficial IRC channel someone created under the name of the software so people could discuss it. This was and still is open source. No "community". No politics. No Code of Conduct. No pull requests or issues. No wiki. No core team. Later, we had sites like Sourceforge.
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