Open source is neither a community nor a democracy \ stacker news ~opensource

Open source is neither a community nor a democracy world.hey.com/dhh/open-source-is-neither-a-community-nor-a-democracy-606abdab

2058 sats \ 7 comments \ @Rsync25 17 May opensource

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251 sats \ 1 reply \ @elvismercury 17 May

But the reason this doesn't resolve the tension is that it still relies on showing up and doing the work. And there just so happens to be far fewer individuals willing and capable of doing that than there are individuals who wish they had a say on the direction of their favorite software.

You can't solve that tension, only acknowledge it. I've dealt with it for literally twenty years with my work on Rails and a million other open source projects. There's an ever-latent instinct in a substantial subset of open source users who will continuously rear itself to question why it's the people who do the most work or deliver the most value or start the most projects that get to have the largest say.

This is great advice for life in general, esp for younger folks starting a career: in whatever industry you're in, the active doing-of-things and taking responsibility for them, whether they are 'officially' yours to be responsible for, will begin to lift you, little by little, in a compounding fashion. You became, over time, somebody whose opinion people value.

You do it, and then are considered to be worthy and capable of doing it, and then become formally empowered to do it. Not the reverse.

108 sats \ 0 replies \ @DiedOnTitan 18 May

This is great advice for life in general, esp for younger folks starting a career: in whatever industry you're in, the active doing-of-things and taking responsibility for them, whether they are 'officially' yours to be responsible for, will begin to lift you, little by little, in a compounding fashion. You became, over time, somebody whose opinion people value.

Very well said. This aligns with my own experience. Open source, like other volunteer projects, generally allows new people to insert themselves and participate in some niche and often overlooked aspect. If that participation creates value, your influence grows. If you stick with it long enough, you essentially become the hub of that sphere of influence that you have built. These hubs do not usurp the work of others, but rather enhances the overall project and over time you become the trusted and indispensable go-to person for that area. It's a very empowering feeling and one that carries over to other aspects of life.

44 sats \ 0 replies \ @Coinsreporter 17 May

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @BitcoinAbhi 17 May

Very nice post there. I love the idea. But how is voting the measure of democracy. The measure of it is the power in the hands of people for participating

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @kilianbuhn 17 May

There are great communities around FOSS

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @freebookspls 17 May

Open Source just means you can see the code

It does not mean your suggestions are gonna make a difference.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @StillStackinAfterAllTheseYears 17 May

Great piece, and the piece linked within it has a quote that perfectly sums it up:

Open source is a licensing and delivery mechanism, period.

The only thing that I do think is left out of both pieces is acknowledging that feedback itself can be useful (or even vital) to the platform, and that's the tension. You need to create a mechanism for feedback to be heard (and to be listened to, which isn't the same thing) while managing expectations around that. I don't envy developers.