Other writing: May 2023

Where have I been writing when I haven’t been writing here?

Stuff I wrote

Do release-blocking bugs have to be new? — If a bug existed in previous releases, should it block the upcoming release? There’s a case for “yes” and a case for “no”.
To grow an open source project, give up control — If the project structure shares leadership outside the company, it becomes more appealing to people outside the company.
Keeping your bug tracker simple — Don’t try to make the perfect system from the beginning. Start with the basics. Solve problems after they become problems.
Use your tools, but write like you — We live in a time when we’re awash in tools (often free) that aid writing. You miss out when you don’t take advantage of these tools.
Are bug reporters contributors? — Whether they’re made by a contributor or not, bug reports are valuable contributions to your project. Treat them that way.
Just because you write it, that doesn’t mean they’ll read it — You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. What happens if you write all of those wonderful words and they don’t get read?
Chat is not documentation — Chat is somewhat ephemeral. When you try to use it as a long-term resource — even if you have years of logs — it gets rough.
MVP applies to teams, too — It’s hard to contain your enthusiasm when starting something new, but you have to pace yourself. Otherwise, the enthusiasm goes nowhere.