https://joeldenning.com/?p=29 Joel Denning * Home * Contact me * Blog My boundaries as an open source developer joeldenning 2 Jan, 2022 My boundaries as an open source developer Hello internet citizen My name is Joel Denning - this post exists as a way for me to share common information with people who contact me related to my work on single-spa and other open source projects. It helps me avoid explaining the same things to dozens of people. Some useful links Let's get some of the easy stuff out of the way first. If you are here for help with single-spa, here are the appropriate places to look for it: 1. single-spa Slack chat 2. single-spa documentation 3. single-spa Github issues Some background I believe in and enjoy working on open source software. I like collaborating with people from around the world in Github issues, Slack/Discord, Twitter, etc. However, I also get overwhelmed by people asking me to do things. I am contacted dozens of times every week with varying requests to answer people's questions, support the software I've created, fix bugs or build new features, set up consultations, or discuss business opportunities. These kinds of contacts often end up feeling like small demands that pile up on me. I feel a burden to respond to and help everyone. When I first got into open source, I was able to do so but no longer can due to the increased quantity of requests. When something feels like a demand (even a small demand such as "please respond to me" or "please review this pull request"), I often retreat. It is very common for me to take days, weeks, or even months off from open source because I get overwhelmed by the people asking me to do it. I experience a lot of initial anxiety due to the demand, followed by additional anxiety about me delaying my response. Since 2020 or so, this retreat from demands has decreased the amount of open source maintenance I do by over half. The single-spa, systemjs, and other ecosystems have not received the attention I originally planned on giving them because doing so is simply stressful. Part of the stress is in interacting with so many people a single time, never having a solid relationship with any of them. Another part of the stress is in being a perfectionist with a preference for zero inbox. Another is simultaneously wanting to improve the open source I work on while also feeling crushed by other responsibilities. Another is enjoying open source less as I've seen my work benefit businesses without benefiting me. Another is noticing people cozying up to me so that they can exploit our acquaintanceship later to get me to do things, and feeling disappointed about that. My boundaries The following boundaries exist to try to help me continue existing in open source without becoming overwhelmed. It is my responsibility to set the boundaries, your responsibility to learn them and try to follow them, and my responsibility to ultimately enforce them if you do not (block). Me having boundaries does not mean I don't like you. It also doesn't mean I would never want to talk to you. I may have linked you to this article without you having violated any boundaries. 1. You are not entitled to a conversation with me. I do not need to respond to you. 2. You are not entitled to me doing work. I do not need to do the work you think is important. 3. You are not entitled to any time frame. If your production environment is down, it's not my fault. If I don't respond to you in a day or a week or a month, I still owe you nothing. When to not direct message me Contacting me directly related to open source work has the disadvantage of excluding the rest of the single-spa community from the conversation. There are many other people who are willing and able to help besides myself. Please consider asking questions and reporting bugs via public channels (Slack workspace or Github issue queue). The general rule is "if your objective is to get me to do something, I ask you to please not direct message me." Below is a non-exhaustive list of situations where I'd prefer not to be direct messaged. It applies to everyone except fellow maintainers of the software (those with write access on Github): 1. I have asked you not to. (Immediate block if you do not respect this) 2. You want help diagnosing an error or problem 3. You want me to create a pull request to fix a bug 4. You want a new feature 5. You want me to review a pull request 6. You want me to publish a new version of the software 7. You need help regarding single-spa-workshop. (Please email info@single-spa-workshop.com instead) 8. You need help learning how to contribute code to single-spa or other open source projects. When to direct message me If you are not a fellow maintainer, here is when it's appropriate to direct message me: 1. You have a direct business inquiry. For example, you'd like me to do professional consulting with your business. 2. You want to say thanks or donate (and not just so you can ask me about something afterwards). 3. You have already contributed code to the software and now wish to become a maintainer. I am very much looking for more maintainers who watch Github issue queues and contribute code, documentation, etc. 4. You're a fellow open source maintainer and want to collaborate with me on something. 5. You want to talk about something unrelated to work or open source. I like laughing, dog pics, discussion about my tweets, and general lightheartedness. I also like serious discussion about a lot of non-coding topics like music, books, religion, politics, etc When to mention me In Slack or Github, it's usually not necessary to mention me. I watch many dozens of Github repos and go through my Github notifications regularly. I also watch Slack and respond when I have time and wish to. Here are the situations where mentioning me is okay: 1. In Github issues under the https://github.com/esm-bundle organization. This is the only place where I have notifications turned off, due to lots of automated ones. 2. In Github issues/pull requests that I otherwise am not watching. I watch every single-spa and systemjs repository. I also watch a lot of other repositories. But if I'm not watching the repository, you may mention me. 3. In Slack / Discord channels outside of the single-spa Slack. In the single-spa Slack, please do not mention me, since I watch it myself and respond when I have time and desire to do so. 4. I told you to mention me if you didn't hear back from me. Please do not mention me as a tactic to get my attention on something I'm already watching. If you feel that I may have just completely overlooked or forgotten something, you may mention me but please do not tell me how important it is that I respond quickly or I will probably just retreat. Please do not use any personal relationship with me as a way to try to persuade me of its importance. Please do not ask someone else to mention me or direct message me. * Home * Contact me * Blog Joel Denning * sitemap Follow us