Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave_S
Hey, an open source project is a group effort, so it is perfectly reasonable to ask someone who wants something special to implement it themselves and submit it to the project. Submitting bug reports to the ticket system is helpful for everybody concerned, but asking for a free ride deserves the reply that dottedmag gave, IMHO.
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First, I didn't find dottedmag's answer that grumpy, just a bit sarcastic, but I am fine with that, I can take it (I've been using OSS for many years now, enough to develop a thick skin for that).
Regarding Dave's answer, not so sure what he meant by free ride. I was not asking "something special", and I at least tried to be polite and contribute the way I can (since I can't code for the project, I thought the team would appreciate to see some money showing up in their paypal account). I didn't demand a fix, saying the software is crap without those features or anything of that sort. I just politely asked for a
workaround. Who knows, maybe someone could say "hey, you can get a much faster boot by doing this and that" or "you can lock the screen by pressing this and that button as well". I was just wondering. There's no such info in the user guide but who knows, documentation in OSS projects may be out of date (and I can help with that, sure). I am new to OI and was just trying to get some info.
This mentality of "this is open source, implement it yourself or shut up" is too old, that is
not what open source is about, and supporters of OSS should actually work hard to clear that image from public perception, because that is the kind of FUD that companies like Microsoft use
against OSS.
Anyway, I will skip this forum and use the bug tracker instead, so people don't call it a free ride anymore.