On Wed, 22 Jul 2020 15:07:38 +0200, Thorsten wrote:

> On 21.07.2020 22:31, Jim Henderson wrote:
>> The world doesn't revolve around your wants and desires, and putting
>> together a laundry list of complaints isn't really a great way to
>> motivate people to do what you want them to do.
> 
> And this really is one of the most annoying problems with open source
> software. The endless complaints from people who will never contribute.
> It wears practically everybody down over the years. As other projects
> have shown even those that do "get paid" for enduring it.

Yup, and that sense of "entitlement" (which is entirely undeserved) that 
some users have that the project managers/developers *owe* the users 
anything.

People who work on code for free do it because it gives them joy and is 
fun.  Dealing with a userbase of complainers and whiners (and I'm not 
meaning to say the entire userbase of POV-Ray is like this; all it takes 
is a few entitled loudmouthed jerks to ruin it for everyone; I know users 
who have left because of a few toxic people in the community) isn't fun.  
As we've seen from Chris' reply, that is just shitty to deal with, and 
not fun.  Why would *anyone* opt to put up with that kind of bullshit if 
they had the choice?

In a nutshell, we (the users) are owed exactly *nothing* from Chris or 
the development team.  He has managed this project for 25 years (by his 
own reckoning; I'd have said closer to 30 by my own), and *we* owe *him* 
some gratitude for what he has done.

It's rare for *anyone* to stick with a single development project for 
that long, much less retain a passion for it.

The same goes for Moray (which I see he explained in very clear terms).  
He *purchased* the codebase from Lutz.  He owns it, and it's his to do 
with as he pleases.

As for me:  I've offered to step up and help out with content work when 
he gets the CMS ready to go.  I can't (and won't) do it alone - my time 
is *extremely limited*.  I'll start a separate discussion nearer the time 
Chris and I work out that that transition can happen, and I'll be 
expecting to have some folks from the community step up to help out.  If 
that doesn't happen, the job will take longer or it simply won't get 
done. Anyone who wants to bitch at me for the speed with which it isn't 
happening will be welcome to get your hands dirty and dig in and help - 
otherwise, I'll be telling you in no uncertain terms where you can shove 
your complaints.  To paraphrase Chris, I'm nearly 50 years old myself, 
and I don't have time or energy for dealing with the whining self-
entitled jerks who think that they are owed *anything* by the people 
doing the actual work. You want the project to have a future?  Pitch in 
and help out.

-- 
"I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and 
besides, the pig likes it." - George Bernard Shaw

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