Duck Alignment Academy

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

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

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

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

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If you’re considering adopting a “real name only” policy for your project, think about what problem you’re actually trying to solve.

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Valuable meetings increase the work that gets done by providing coordination and accountability. Keep the valuable meetings. Cancel the rest.

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Tasks that are low-impact and apt to be forgotten if not done on a regular cadence probably belong on a calendar instead of the schedule.

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