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Jean-Baptiste "JBQ" Quéru
@jbqueru@floss.social  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

In my little world of #RetroComputing, I have stumbled across minor issues in some of the tools that I use.

I've had two cases so far where maintainers very quickly took my suggestion and made it available in their main branch. I've also had one where I haven't heard back from the maintainer, i.e. where I'm going to need to maintain my own fork (for #RiscV compatibility). And that's OK. Beyond being glad that I got help, I'm glad that the original authors allow me also to do the work myself.
Jean-Baptiste "JBQ" Quéru
@jbqueru@floss.social  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

A situation that appears more and more, though, is that "with great power comes great responsibility." When using Free Software, you might only have yourself to rely on to maintain the software you use.

Don't get me wrong, most maintainers will go through great lengths to help their users, but that's from being kind and decent human beings, not from being contractually required to.

When using Free Software, it's also "free as in puppy": no upfront cost, but maintainance is on you.
Jean-Baptiste "JBQ" Quéru
@jbqueru@floss.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

In my little world of #RetroComputing, I have stumbled across minor issues in some of the tools that I use.

I've had two cases so far where maintainers very quickly took my suggestion and made it available in their main branch. I've also had one where I haven't heard back from the maintainer, i.e. where I'm going to need to maintain my own fork (for #RiscV compatibility). And that's OK. Beyond being glad that I got help, I'm glad that the original authors allow me also to do the work myself.