alt Hacker NewsThe first one always takes way longer than the code itself deserves. Most of the work is figuring out the unwritten rules, not writing the patch.
Replies
yu3zhou4 • today at 8:30 AM
Can confirm that it also happens in other complex systems! Still a lot of good time and the novelty factor helps with pushing through
seb1204 • today at 8:39 AM
Sand that after so many years these rules are still not written down.
This is a big problem in open source that seems taboo to discuss.
In my opinion, unwritten rules are for gatekeeping. And if a new person follows all the unwritten rules, magically there's no one willing to review.
I think this is how large BFDL-style open source projects slowly become less and less relevant over the next few decades.