diff --git a/source/_daily_emails/2024-04-15.md b/source/_daily_emails/2024-04-15.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..248058ca --- /dev/null +++ b/source/_daily_emails/2024-04-15.md @@ -0,0 +1,31 @@ +--- +title: A note to open-source software maintainers +date: 2024-04-15 +permalink: archive/2024/04/15/a-note-to-open-source-software-maintainers +tags: + - software-development + - drupal + - php + - open-source +cta: ~ +snippet: | + If you want people to use your open-source software, make it easy to use and update. +--- + +I recently updated a website to the latest version of Drupal. + +Doing so introduced a bug in a contributed module I was using. + +A fix was committed to the 2.x branch of the module, which is still in an unstable alpha phase, and the issue was closed. + +There was no fix for the stable 1.x branch. + +There was no fix backported to the 1.x branch. + +There are breaking changes between the 1.x and 2.x branches that require me to update custom code that uses the module, which I don't want to do yet, and I don't want to update to an unstable version. + +If you maintain open-source software, don't force people to update too quickly. + +If you can, make it easy for people to update to the next major version by keeping breaking changes to a minimum and providing time and clear instructions for doing so. + +If these are too difficult, it could discourage or prevent people from using your software.