[dmix]

I've been building my own products for years. Burnout is a fact of life.

Sure if you built something people loved, theres ton of pressure to follow up with something just as good.

But it's biology. People get bored, exhausted or uninspired with their projects.

At the end of the day he made a ton of money and built something thousands of people use everyday. That should be more important than having a good sequel. There will always be competitors who will keep customers happy. Thats not his full responsibility forever because he did it once.

Besides, he'll get motivated again one day and do something interesting.

[scott_s]

None of that has any bearing on whether or not we should make his unhappiness the butt of our jokes.

[dmix]

If he doesn't take it personally, as he shouldn't, then it doesn't matter.

The best quote I've read on the subject was that if people care enough to complain about your product, that means you did something right.

[scott_s]

Let me use language that will perhaps resonate with people here more: doing this makes you a bully.

People do take things personally. This isn't constructive criticism we're talking about. It's not even a criticism of the product itself. It's making fun of someone for getting burnt out.

[fusiongyro]

I hate that I turn every debate into "it depends on where you draw the line" but it really does. There is a continuum between my-first-open-source-project and Apple. It would be absurd to suggest to someone that they shouldn't make fun of Windows 8 because Steve Ballmer might get his feelings hurt. It would also be absurd to suggest that every kid who proudly uploads his/her first program to github deserves to be slammed for its shortcomings. It's a continuum.

While I see your perspective, I think it's going to get pretty boring around here if we have to walk on eggshells for fear that somebody who probably isn't even paying attention might be offended at a jovial (if accurate) characterization of one of their shortcomings.

[scott_s]

Odd. I consider it common decency, not "walking on eggshells."

[fusiongyro]

He called it abandonware. He didn't say "fuck you." He didn't say "he's a shit developer." He called the program abandonware. Have a sense of perspective already. Frankly, I'd find it insulting if you were defending me from the tiniest barbs like this. Onlookers couldn't help but conclude I'd be knocked over and bruised by a warm breeze.

[Uchikoma]

Downplaying burnout of mixing burnouts with boredom, or exhaustion gives the wrong impression. Most people that think they had some kind of burnout if they are not motivated or exhausted is plain wrong.

If you had serious depression going with your exhaustion at least, you might have had burn out.

The trivialization of burnout is damaging to the victims of burnout.

[dmix]

Thats what I'm saying. You shouldn't have be a victim of burnout.

Burnout a temporary state (by nature) brought on by legitimate causes.

If it was depression, then that is a separate issue with plenty of it's own clinical treatments and reasoning.

You can't deal with burnout by suppressing everyone who brings it up.

It has to be accepted. He has to accept that there are fans of Textmate who are disappointed while being able to appreciate that he accomplished something really great regardless.

He accepted he can't finish the project and open sourced it, which was also a very nice gesture and made the fans quite happy.

There will always be people who are ignorant to the effects of burnout and try to make fun of failed projects. But that doesn't mean it has to be damaging to the project creators.