[andrewmcwatters]

You don't have to be sorry, you're providing a high quality open-source product for free. It just is what it is.

Addendum: I manage a very small open-source product (https://www.planimeter.org/grid-sdk/), and when you're creating something that competes with an established incumbent, all you can do is your best and focus on the most impactful features. Individuals like the one above saying things like, "I'll be avoiding parcel like the plague," is really disheartening, but try and focus on their concerns more than the actual words they use.

Frustrated people are a goldmine for feedback that many projects simply do not receive. Take it in stride, know that you have something others do not, and use it to your advantage. It can be hard to separate your feelings from the words used, but there are diamonds there.

[danenania]

Great comment. I think this applies for pretty much all products or projects, especially in their early stages. There will always be people who don’t get it or have different priorities. It’s ok. When I showed people early versions of EnvKey[1], it felt like half loved it and half thought it was completely pointless. /shrug. At the time I found it discouraging, but now I see that getting even a single person to genuinely love what you’ve built is a major accomplishment and a really good sign that you’re on the right track.

If you can find one, you can find ten. If you can find ten, you can find a hundred. And so on.

It’s also extremely important to remember that the opposite of love is not hate, negativity, or criticism. It’s indifference. Harsh critics can become some of your best users/customers/advocates if you’re able to learn from them and win them over.

1 - https://www.envkey.com

[eloff]

That's a healthy attitude, I'll try to remember that one next time I get harsh feedback.

It's tough to separate my ego from my work.

[swyx]

for what its worth i think adobe pays devon to work on tooling (parcel and react aria|spectrum) somewhat full time and he even has a team around him. but no doubt its just extraordinarily hard to do regardless

[devongovett]

I am paid to work on react-aria/spectrum. Parcel is a side project.

[swyx]

thats... just incredibly impressive. hats off!