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Open source projects should run office hours (simonwillison.net)
620 points by tosh on March 5, 2021 | hide | past | favorite | 266 comments



That sounds pretty hellish. Just send an email!


Why don't you use Remotheour for your office hour? https://remotehour.com


Every team at work (AWS) has office hours, this is a great idea.


this is a great idea, I'm adopting it.


Oof the title.


And they should buy me a new M1 laptop. And a pony.


Yes yes,yes


Thanks OP.


Ppl should pay open source projects


no, false, incorrect


This is a great idea and this can be really helpful for beginners who want to contribute to open source


I look forward to hearing how the mother who has kids to look after, and already has to work far beyond working hours to satisfy psychotic hiring practices focussing on algorithm knowledge and open source contributions, can then afford more time to do "office hours" with people using the software she has BUILT AND PROVIDED FOR FREE.

Alternatively: Tech Bros go ahead!


I would suggest that you read the article. This is not about locking you down, this is about the benefits of opening a more direct communications channel with your users.

Generally, communication with your users is a good idea, because it gives you insights in how your tools are being used, and gives you a chance to - by asking the right questions - improve your code, and your relationship with the community.

It is about building and applying soft skills.

Your full-time-working, full-time learning, open-source-contributing mother of several children may choose not to do so. Or maybe she can cut some time from the full-time learning and train her people skills, and make her open source product better. Because in the end, a well-run, useful OSS portfolio helps building reputation that is more useful in a hiring situation than deep knowledge about the shortfalls of the Dijkstra algorithm for edge cases.


Hey! I started a platform called Otechie to help open source projects build consulting businesses. I believe this is the perfect way for open source projects to monetize, because they are the worlds experts in something lots of businesses want help with.

We’ve been working with the Nuxt.js team and iterating on the product for over a year. It has become a full featured live chat, and invoicing system, with a contact widget for onboarding clients.

Feel free to email me at dylan@otechie.com if you’re interested




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