On the occasional unpleasantness of community

Dear well-dressed lady who walked by as I was clearing the sidewalk of snow and ice,

No, I am not doing this because, as you state, I am “ambitious.” There are myriad things I’d rather be doing right now, not the least of which is working on the article which is due tomorrow.

I am doing this because, however onerous, it’s the right thing to do. The ice I clear from my sidewalk may save one of my neighbors a very unpleasant fall. You, well-dressed lady walking by, must live in a city rather than a community. This is what we do when we live in a community: we help each other.

The same is true in open source communities. Do we want to write documentation? For many of us, the answer is “no.” Do we want to do code review? Hold design meetings? Take the time out to answer user questions? Triage bug reports? Again, the answer usually is “no.” But we do it because it’s the right thing. Because by taking a little bit of time to do something we may not enjoy, we make our little corner of the world a more pleasant and more welcoming place for others. We turn it from a project, from a city, into a community.

Enjoy the cleared sidewalk.

Love from a community member,

Me