Running a moderately popular open-source project wasn't the only thing that burned me out, but it sure didn't help.
What I meant between the lines is that there are a lot of entitled people everywhere, FOSS users are just an example of it, and one needs to be ready for them whenever setting up for a public-facing endeavor, be it an OSS project or a shop or whatever. Just not let that hit you with low defenses.
I've been an OSS project maintainer myself, and realized that one must be ready to deal with people and their behaviors.
If I could give an actionable tip to the author and all FOSS maintainers (or soon to be) is to add a README section "This project is a garden", and copy it from Valetudo:
https://github.com/Hypfer/Valetudo?tab=readme-ov-file#valetu...
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The author complains about how many (probably entitled) users he started having to support, but deeply inside that was not a problem of being an Open Source maintainer as much as a problem of not being prepared to deal with the social side and the normal people's behavior.
There's conflict everywhere. If you gave free umbrellas on the street and some of them were broken, for sure part of those people would turn around and request a good one, to which one needs to be prepared to have an answer, it can be "yeah sorry here you are" or "well it was free, be happy you got something at all"
> While providing direct support to people is one of the most valuable rewards, combining that with lack of time, support on GitHub issues, continuing development and maintaining enjoyment while working on the project is hard, really hard.
He is just saying it’s a lot of work.
> And this is where I felt like I shoot myself in the foot. I’ve built something valuable to people, decided to open-source it and now I’ve to carry the responsibilities of maintaining an open-source project. I’ve always wanted to reach this stage, and now I sort of regret it, because it’s really hard to balance maintenance with other things in life. I mean maybe I’m getting too old, but I just feel so tired after work, and I don’t feel like having to maintain an open-source project while being tired.
Poor dudes just tired.
FWIW complaining about a free umbrella likely points toward being entitled and unsocialized. Those traits typically make a person unbearable to others.
Did you mean umbrelleable to others?
Hah sorry I couldn't resist :)
The issue isn't socially interacting with any of the users, I wish that was the major pain point. The issue is having to handle e-mails, issues, feature requests, code-reviewing, continuous development, acquiring new users (otherwise project will stale) - all of this after a long day of work and balancing other important issues "non work related".
Check the Valetudo's project Readme and website, youl'll notice an attitude that I truly believe is the perfect mindset for exposing oneself to the world like a project maintainer does.
Hopefully one day you get the tickle and feel like keeping up working on the project again :) or any other kind of different project that you might feel.
Good luck and thanks for sharing zero-monitor!
If the whole project bores you now, move on.
Never feel responsible to those who might like to demand your attention
metasim•5mo ago