Post #2803216

2026-03-04 03:47 UTC

@robn@social.lol I can recall one good contribution in recent memory, a Getting Started doc for our LMDB library. The contributor was using our code, thought there was a lack of guidance for new users, and wrote it up. This is generally the pattern we expect in open source - that people will show up because they're already interested in the project and have a personal use for it, a reason to be involved.

Replies (2)

@hyc@mastodon.social 2026-03-04 03:55

@robn@social.lol I commissioned a tech writer to give us an assessment of where things could be improved. Unfortunately he got covid shortly after, so wasn't available to do the proposed work. https://bugs.openldap.org/show_bug.cgi?id=10257

Open ##2803217
@robn@social.lol 2026-03-04 04:03

@hyc@mastodon.social if you only want people that are already using software and have time to contribute to it, that's totally ok. I got no problem with that, it works for a lot of projects and has for a long time. all I'm pushing back on is idea that no one showing up means that no one exists. it _might_ mean that, but it might also be a discovery problem (do they know you exist), or might be that your terms (prior interest or use case) don't align with what that person wants to achieve, or wants in exchange.

Open ##2803218