Category: Posts

2024-06-26

Tasks and projects: what’s the difference?

It’s not always clear how to distinguish between tasks and projects. My rule of thumb: tasks have binary state, projects have several states.

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2024-06-19

Membership needs a removal process

People need to be removed for a variety of reasons, and having planned ahead makes the process much easier.

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2024-06-12

The easy fixes probably aren’t in your code

Mature projects don’t have many easy fixes left in the code. But test coverage, documentation, websites, and other areas probably have plenty.

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2024-06-05

Public mistakes are a feature of open source

Everyone who is good at something has a trail of [mistakes] in their wake. Open source means sharing the learning experience with others.

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2024-05-22

Write a vision and mission statement for your project

Your project’s vision and mission statement give the community an ideal to rally around. They define what your project is — and isn’t.

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2024-05-15

Combinatorial releases won’t help

The general software release workflow looks like something Gutenberg would recognize from 1440 because it actually works pretty well.

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2024-05-08

Use care in examples and placeholders

Placeholder configs for services that the user will interact with should be intentionally broken to protect users and innocent bystanders.

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2024-05-01

Release announcements must be a part of your process

Release announcements give you a chance to create buzz around your project that can help attract new users and contributors.

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2024-04-26

Considering the wishes of upstream projects

Distributions should be opinionated. If you have a sound reason for ignoring upstream’s wishes, do it. But understand you may get no support.

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2024-04-24

On “predetermined” outcomes

You’re obliged to listen to the comments in good faith; you’re not obliged to be convinced by them.

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