On Mon, May 11, 2015 at 05:42:03PM -0400, Martin Owens wrote:
On Mon, 2015-05-11 at 23:03 +0200, Tobias Ellinghaus wrote:
TL;DR: I am sick of the attitude that many users have, namely that they deserve anything iff all they do is taking the present you are offering.
I find it's more helpful to guide users towards being productive.
It's better to ask new contributors to put some time into research, design, and bug management to build their case. It's certainly proves the interested from those who might not have time for sustained contribution. Be positive with the newbies.
Completely agreed. Early on in Inkscape's development history I made a point to try to connect with each person that stopped by IRC with a suggestion or patch, to try and help with their immediate need and lure them in to do further development. As a newbie to a project, a helping hand and welcome from a long timer can be hugely important in securing their ongoing participation in the project.
If one person without time/resource can't convince some people with time/resources that their point is worth investing in; it doesn't really matter if said person is right, well respected, a developer or anything. It just won't happen.
Inkscape's leadership is quite hands-off, but also a democracy (voted in) by invested parties (contributors with sustained contribution). It is both democratic /and/ meritocratic with a possible future adjustment for what counts as sufficient merit.
I hope we're not an unusual project having such a well balanced leadership and contribution philosophy.
At least in terms of *successful* projects, from what I've seen our organization approach seems unusual. Most big established projects have fairly high barriers to contribution, with leadership better described as feudal (and sometimes feud-ish!)
We actually do need more Inkscapers to take on leadership roles in order for the project to scale up to the next level. We need folks to help organize events and development efforts, folks to write up development plans and and mentor new developers, folks to set up and run fundraisers.
So, if anyone has an itch to do something that will help further the project, please don't be dissuaded by a fear of someone telling you 'no'. If you're willing to put in the time and effort, we're certainly going to give you green lights to help make it happen.
Bryce