> Open source culture celebrates intensity. It celebrates the all-night hack session, the prolific contributor, the person who maintains fifty projects and keynotes ten conferences a year. What it doesn't celebrate, what it actively looks away from, is what that intensity does to people who are wired differently. And a lot of us are wired differently. That's why we're here in the first place.
I gratefully use and meagerly contribute to open source regularly, and I marvel at a few particularly prolific mainteners. But at no point have I ever celebrated "intensity".
I defintiely see what OP describes, but is that "Open Source", or just some subset of people who happen to work/participate in open source? Likewise, surely this same mindset is even more prevalent in closed-source - especially in startups, hustle culture etc...
So, to the extent that a lifestyle and perspective as the article describes is unhealthy, I don't think it really has anything to do with open source and is really just one of many common manifestations of someone who is ill-prepared for life.
I'm glad the author has now found perspective, balance and a healthier, seemingly more fulfilling, life. I hope they continue to thrive, and that this article helps people - open source or not - to recalibrate and ultimately find the same.
Open source gives a lot of people their first real sense of recognition, especially if they didn’t follow traditional paths. But that also makes it really easy to tie your self-worth to something that was never meant to carry that weight.
The “mania looks like productivity” line hits hard. I think a lot of people in tech have seen versions of that, even if they don’t have the same diagnosis.
Is this quote actually true?
> Open source culture celebrates intensity. It celebrates the all-night hack session, the prolific contributor, the person who maintains fifty projects and keynotes ten conferences a year. What it doesn't celebrate, what it actively looks away from, is what that intensity does to people who are wired differently. And a lot of us are wired differently. That's why we're here in the first place.
I gratefully use and meagerly contribute to open source regularly, and I marvel at a few particularly prolific mainteners. But at no point have I ever celebrated "intensity".
I defintiely see what OP describes, but is that "Open Source", or just some subset of people who happen to work/participate in open source? Likewise, surely this same mindset is even more prevalent in closed-source - especially in startups, hustle culture etc...
So, to the extent that a lifestyle and perspective as the article describes is unhealthy, I don't think it really has anything to do with open source and is really just one of many common manifestations of someone who is ill-prepared for life.
I'm glad the author has now found perspective, balance and a healthier, seemingly more fulfilling, life. I hope they continue to thrive, and that this article helps people - open source or not - to recalibrate and ultimately find the same.
This resonates.
Open source gives a lot of people their first real sense of recognition, especially if they didn’t follow traditional paths. But that also makes it really easy to tie your self-worth to something that was never meant to carry that weight.
The “mania looks like productivity” line hits hard. I think a lot of people in tech have seen versions of that, even if they don’t have the same diagnosis.
Appreciate you writing this.
“What follows is not ingratitude. It's accounting.”
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