Open Source does not mean “Includes Free Support”
I am someone who both publishes and contributes to open source projects, and also regularly files bugs against other people&#x27;s open source projects.<p>I start from the same intuitions as the OP but they lead me to the exact opposite conclusion.<p>I consider my time a limited resource and the most important currency I have. Spending my time on trying your piece of software is already an investment on my part. You aren&#x27;t solving anything yet for me. Finding out that your software does not satisfy my needs is a financial loss for me. I have now sunk costs into your software and got no ROI.<p>So when I take the time to sink even more cost into you and your buggy software, to tell you what I tried and how it didn&#x27;t work, then please recognize that is highly irrational of me. The sane response would be to cut my losses and maybe publish a one star review of your cruddy work somewhere. :)<p>This view holds for both paid and open source software, by the way.<p>So the very fact that I do take the time out of my day to tell you about bugs in your software can only be explained by my idealistic and altruistic nature. (I&#x27;m putting it on a bit thick here to drive the point home)<p>If I report a bug to you, I am not doing myself a favor.
I am doing YOU a favor. One that I have no expectation of getting paid for. Even if you go ahead and fix the bug I reported, that means I still sunk unnecessary cost into your enterprise. NB: I have no reason to expect the rest of your software to work. The very fact that I found a bug already makes it more likely that the rest of the software is just as deficient.<p>So the very least I expect is that you graciously acknowledge my bug report and the time I sunk into your project. I expect you to thank me for taking the time to file a bug with you. Why? Because if you fix your code, that improves your reputation, not mine. So I did something for free that helps you, not me.<p>Let me make this clear: The actor causing the cascade of fail here is you, not me. Had you published good software (or no software at all), we wouldn&#x27;t be in this negative spot. I wouldn&#x27;t have wasted time on you or your buggy software, and you wouldn&#x27;t have to waste time deciding how to react to my bug report.<p>I think the way out of this dilemma is to document your software honestly.<p>If you wrote the software for yourself and had no plan for it to work for others, then SAY SO on the project homepage.<p>If you wrote the software to learn how stuff works, and are happy if it builds, but don&#x27;t expect it to solve the general problem for others, then SAY SO on the project homepage.<p>I will then not download it if I was looking for a solution to anything, only if I also just wanted to learn how stuff works.<p>That said, my experience with reporting bugs has been very good all things considered. I would like to mention postgresql and llvm as being exemplary here. Their response to bug reports has been a shining beacon that led me to recommend their software even on paid projects I am involved in, where I feel crappy open source software I recommend could come back to damage my own reputation.<p>Also if all the bugs turn out being people using your software wrong, than maybe it&#x27;s not them, maybe it&#x27;s you. Consider making the UI more self-explanatory.