Hello – I’m pretty much new to this forum looking for information on a topic that probably is pretty basic stuff but where a keyword search didn’t turn up much:
Are there any suggestions as to how a long-time voluntary contributor and maintainer should react to a (possibly only self-perceived) shift in reciprocity within the project?
Thanks in advance for any pointers to suggested forums (found the “Volunteer Health” one but that was pretty empty) or any other reading.
More details below.
Say one was in a project where a small team regularly cooperated to solve issues, i.e., real reciprocity at work. Then a large “foundation” with lots of companies take control of this project. All of a sudden contribution seems to be measured (also? only?) by money put into an opaque pot and not so much by technical activity (“reciprocity”). Also new processes are expected of volunteer and employed contributors alike. The latter of course are paid the “learn new tricks”, but what about the former?
So maybe an even more concrete question: Is there any suggested reading for how volunteer maintainers (i.e., those earning nothing, just wanting to “improve the world a bit”) can retain their own motivation for learning these (possibly constantly expanding set of) new rules --mostly introduced to benefit corporations (i.e., entities possibly earning or saving a lot of money using this software)?
I found this interesting article on strong reciprocity and it chimed with me: I’d indeed be willing to “punish” myself (and others) giving up code and a community I spent building over years just because I think “fairness” does not prevail any more. Any thoughts & suggestions very welcome!