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by dev213 858 days ago
This is a really cool project, but:

"Where are the ISO images?

There are no ISO images. This project does not cater to non-technical users."

This comes off as really abrasive. Wanting an ISO image to quickly test this out is not an indicator of someones technical ability.

I'm sorry I don't want to boot up a linux vm, install a lot of development packages and then build my own boot image just to try this out.

3 comments

> This comes off as really abrasive.

I think that’s often the point with OSS projects, especially those that have an ambitious long term vision. If you “don’t want to boot up a Linux VM” etc, they don’t want you. It’s a filter. It means their concern at the moment is the coherence of their community, not increasing their numbers. It’s the same reason projects like this often have absurdly ugly logos, and landing pages that don’t work on mobile. Fast growth is often seen as destructive when you already have a nice little community vibe. It’s essential to maintain that vibe carefully if you have a long term goal of building something important.

SerenityOS nightly builds: https://serenity-builds.halves.dev/
Counterpoint, it would be another release / packaging they would have to build and maintain, unless they find a volunteer that can do it without detracting from their core business, it's not worth the investment (to them).

Anyone can set up a pipeline to distribute ISO images though, it's open source.

Sure, if that's the reason, I completely understand. However that's not the reason they stated in their FAQ. It really comes off as gatekeeping
Gatekeeping is the right solution sometimes, no?

What if the goal is to keep the relevant communication channels populated exclusively with technical users?

I've seen F/OSS projects completely overrun with support requests from non-technical users. Is it wrong to want to avoid this from the start?