Was the adoption of Discord by the FreeBSD community controversial?
Just like a decade+ ago they thought web forums were vastly inferior to mailing lists.
And they were right on both counts =)
I wanted to join a Discord that required phone number verification. I gave them the number I've had for the last 24 years, and they said it was invalid because it is hosted on Google Voice. I asked for alternative authentication and they said, and I quote,
"Do you have a friend who doesn't use Discord? Can you just use their phone to verify yourself?".
Since then I've been very anti-Discord (but will still occasionally pop on because there are some interesting communities there).
A good web forum is vastly superior to mailing lists.
Matrix, with suitable clients, is vastly superior to IRC.
I'm above the age of thirty-five by twenty-three years and three quarters.
I'm right on all counts ;-)
I've joined multiple programming Discords. When I post, where am I notified of the new replies to me? Or new threads in reply to my messages? I'm convinced I'm missing replies, so end up scrolling up and down history trying to spot them.
I use Slack for a dozen programming Slacks and I get the UI and what's going on. Discord feels alien. Being able to trust the communication platform... that matters.
But I just use the irc channels. Or matrix which is just as good as discord and respects my privacy.
Alongside Discord, we have the /r/freebsd subreddit; a Matrix instance (not yet listed); The FreeBSD Foundation on Mastodon (not yet listed); and so on.
The last update to the Community page was by me. In an ideal world: I'd now add what's missing. In reality: I chose to resign (my doc commit bit was taken in for safekeeping).
Side note: when I last checked, servers for The FreeBSD Forums were not (officially) hosted by The FreeBSD Project.
HTH
It took me by surprise, but there was no controversy.
I used to be a FreeBSD user back in the days of walnut creek CD-ROM.
But today I see very little reason to torture myself with FreeBSD. So why should anyone else?
I get the sentiment that it's good to have diversity and competition, but if you want to get a job done then Linux is the best out right now.
Netflix used FreeBSD for their entire CDN.
No need for the past tense; they still do.
Check out the use cases and testimonials:
https://freebsdfoundation.org/freebsd-project/what-is-freebs... https://freebsdfoundation.org/about-us/testimonials/
If you wonder why the first of those two pages is entirely rewritten: see what's going on with the Enterprise Working Group.
https://wiki.freebsd.org/EnterpriseWorkingGroup
Please note, that group's work is necessarily focused. There's a definition of 'general purpose enterprise server', and so on.
Other groups have focii that differ from, or overlap with, general purpose enterprise server. Most obvious: desktop and embedded.
HTH
Torture is a little dramatic lol. Why should anyone else? If it meets their needs, if they feel comfortable using, or it has a particular feature they like/need.
I don't think the PR reviewer is calling the author a liar. The reviewer said FreeBSD is not willing to lie to its users about version, and instead provided useful info, pointing out the relevant example.
Still, there's a lesson for reviewers that tone is important, especially over text and where a power differential exists.
Also, the author notes:
> The very first comment in the thread from a reviewer was simply only one word: “Why?” - That’s it, just one word. Why did I do this? Why work with such old hardware? Why is the sky blue? How the hell am I to know the context of what they’re referring to when asking a one-worded question?
Its clear from https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd-ports/pull/189#discussion... that the author is asking why is this line needed, something a PR author should always be able to justify.
First suggestion is to separate out the personal greavances from the ideas for the project and present them as distinct issues.
There is a section of this posting that reads like what I would send to an HR department when trying to get accommodation.
I can't speak for Vince, but he's clearly unhappy, so I give him plenty of slack with freedom of expression.
related to freebsd? what was your situation?
Not one person alone.
>> … please note that I’ve discussed this at length with countless members of the community over the past couple of years, and several have shared strikingly similar experiences in confidence. …
> I started using two decades ago...use old school style C on microcontrollers regularly!
Those two statements do not necessary contradict each other. C evolves and skills required on large programs are vastly different from microcontrollers.
Look from other side of an open-source developer and maintainer. You have to spend several hours polishing unfinished Pull Request, only to give other person credit as a "commiter". If you throw away the PR, and instead spend 10 minutes writing it yourself, you "stole" the credit.
Many people do Pull Requests, only to pad their CV! Drama like this is why I do not accept any patches.
Thanks
But it is most common motivation maintainers face. Another one is some sort of "PR notch hunting".
And just because I am in maintainer role, does not mean I signed up for mentorship role. If you want proper support, I do consultations at $200/hour.
Many maintainers are unpaid volunteers!
But, I don't want it to be too mainstream. I picked it precisely because I think Linux is becoming too mainstream with too much involvement from big tech. I think things are just fine as they are.
The last thing I'd want to see is "the year of FreeBSD on the desktop" lol. Sometimes things are great especially because they're not for everyone.
I use it, admittedly not as a daily driver, but I have it installed on thinkpad and am familiar with 3 of the BSD's. I think FreeBSD does have some issues, some laid out in this letter. The rest seems like some drama.
I dont think that everything belongs in the port tree. Being told that it does not, should not automatically be taken a personal insult.
>Many reviewers want things to be 100% absolutely perfect when a submission hits >their desk, so all they have to do is click “merge” and be done with it. If >things are not perfect, then the submission will either sit idle forever, or >worse, passive aggressive commentary starts.
