[Nix-dev] Improving the Developer Experience in the Nix Community

[Shea Levy]

Hi all,

It seems apparent to me that many in the community have some level of dissatisfaction with how contributions to the various nix projects are handled. Sometimes the only solution to problems like this is a fork (as Peter seems to believe), but I think there is a good chance that things can be improved without fracturing the already-small group. I think three things are necessary for this to happen (I apologize for the formatting, I don't have access to a well-featured mail app right now):

	a) Those who have concerns need to explicitly bring them up in a way aimed toward fixing the problem while taking into account the reasons it happened in the first place, rather than trying to place blame. Particularly important here is that people recognize that any change will have a cost and that different people in the project will have different opinions on the relative weighting of the costs and benefits.

	b) Those who propose alternatives need to be willing to step up and do the work necessary to implement those alternatives themselves. For example, if you think too many emails to the list get dropped with no response, you need to be willing to respond to as many of the emails as possible.

	c) Those with the authority to do so need to be willing to make a) and b) possible. This doesn't mean anyone who requests permission to make a change in how things are done should automatically be given such permission, but that any such request needs to at least get some form of consideration from someone who has the ability to grant it.

Obviously only a few people have control over c), but the rest of us can and should freely do a) and b). So please, if you have concerns respond in this thread. Let's try to build the experience we want. I will reply myself with my own particular concerns.

Cheers,
Shea