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by TrueDuality 2347 days ago
The developer actively fought against this for a very long time, even before the reddit shit storms. Yes the community could have forked the project and started independent development.

I'd argue that forking and developing independently of the developer is as big of a middle finger as a developer taking their ball and going home. It just depends on who is on the receiving end.

I don't think either side is right here, but I don't think creating a public fork and building a community around that is an unbiased and neutral response either and should only be done in extreme circumstances... Which is does seem like what happened here.
2 comments
zozbot234 2347 days ago
> I don't think either side is right here, but I don't think creating a public fork and building a community around that is an unbiased and neutral response

Linux distro maintainers routinely create "public forks" even of actively-maintained packages, and no one sane views that as a hostile move or something to complain about. It's part of curating a well-kept ecosystem around your solutions.

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notriddle 2347 days ago
> Linux distro maintainers routinely create "public forks" even of actively-maintained packages, and no one sane views that as a hostile move or something to complain about.

https://www.jwz.org/blog/2016/04/i-would-like-debian-to-stop...

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catalogia 2347 days ago
The way jwz's website treats links from HN should probably give you a clue as to his personality and approach to communication. I wouldn't hold him up as a role model in this regard.
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atoav 2347 days ago
Forking can be a middle finger — a schism, dividing the church to do it your way. Or it can be the most normal thing ever where no one would even bat an eye.

The distinction is if there is tribalism entering the discourse. If the reddit-community-tribe argues gathered around their digital fireplace how bad that one maintainer is, it will naturally become a tribe vs. maintainer conflict (a good way for tribesfolk to proof they are part of the tribe).

This is exactly what saddens Steve: it shouldn't be the "we know real Rust"-tribe against the heretic maintainer. If anything the "heretic maintainer" should be seen as part of the tribe: it is not in our interest to "win" but rather to convince and to take him with us.

I find it shocking at times how low people go just to defend their newfound beliefs within their newfound tribal community.

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