Re:Why we never thank open source maintainers
by olejorgenb on Thursday November 23, 2017 @04:22PM
(#15767882)
Agreed, the "thanks" feels a bit like the user have "paid" for the feature simply by giving an upfront thanks. The thanks is for the new feature, not for the _existing_ features.
Something like:
> I really like NAME-OF-PROGRAM. Thanks for making it! > > One thing that would make it even better for me would be FEATURE-X. What do you think?
would be much better.
Putting some effort into the request/suggestion also helps. Eg. giving a well written rationale/use case. Saying why existing-feature-Y isn't enough, etc.
and
> 'Can you implement <Feature that takes a month of work>?'
Are very differently loaded questions! The first one very much indicates no concern about the implementers time, and is very often seen coming from people that have no idea the complexity of the work involved with the "Thansk!" indicating the implementer would automatically accept it regardless of their own priority, while the second one is way more innocent and open for a reply back with "not sure if I have time for that atm".
EDIT: In short, it's a matter of etiquette, the same way nobody wants to deal with a complete fucking asshole (sorry, personal scars here...).