Comment by dilDDoS - Hacker Neue

dilDDoS Feb 28, 2022 parent

As if the pointless prodding of “any updates? :)” is ever called for. If there were any updates, there would be fucking updates posted. I frequently get comments like this in projects they I maintain, sometimes less than a day after the issue was opened, and it does nothing but annoy me and make me not want to resolve their issue. Why is there an expectation that maintainers have infinite amounts of time to fix whatever problem you’re having? Extremely frustrating and makes me hate working in open source.

oneepic Feb 28, 2022

Of course it looks silly in this context, since the Ukraine invasion is going on. However, in general, don't forget that in some cases there are maintainers who forget, or don't have time, or fix the issue BUT forgot to post an update. These things really do happen. I don't think it's inherently malicious to ask.

gwbas1c Feb 28, 2022

It's all about timing. Ask too soon, or too frequently, and you're being a jerk.

But after 2-3 weeks of silence? A slight prod is okay, even if the answer will turn out to be, "This isn't a priority and I don't know when I'll get to it."

throwamon Feb 28, 2022

I agree that it's unnecessary and annoying, but it's not always useless. Some maintainers sometimes work on issues for months on end without posting any updates because they'd rather focus on the work itself, and "any updates?" comments may prompt them to talk about the progress so far.

Ideally contributors would be able to opt into automatically blocking some kinds of comments, but of course that would require a perfect "spam filter" system or manual moderation by other volunteers so that the contributor wouldn't be distracted.

ziml77 Feb 28, 2022

This happens to me at work all the time. I'll think I can fix an issue faster than I can give a thorough answer about what went wrong and what it will take to fix it. Sometimes I'm right and I'll get back to them quickly to say we're testing a fix. But sometimes I'm wrong and I keep intending to say something but then repeatedly think "oh wait but I've almost found it".

igneo676 Feb 28, 2022

It's entirely useless. Anyone who asks for an update can see it plainly on the repository. There will either be commits against the default branch, an open PR, or a branch with in-progress work.

In any other case (unclosed issue, missing changelog) the solution is to step up and help. Mention that you've replicated the issue, found the solution is up, and that the issue can be closed. Or contribute a changelog

Majestic121 Feb 28, 2022

I understand your frustration, but to me the 'any updates' is a signal that someone actually cares and is impacted by an issue, which can help for prioritization when the backlog is long.

There are ways to do it properly of course, and I understand that this kind of pings can be annoying, but people usually have no ill intention/expectations. Take it as a lame way to put a +1 on an issue

blip54321 Feb 28, 2022

As someone constantly behind on their email, I like bumps for important things.

ziml77 Feb 28, 2022

Seriously, I will forget to do certain tasks or provide updates on my progress if no one follows up asking for updates. I think it's fair for someone to ask to hear if something is still in progress if it's been a while.

commandlinefan Feb 28, 2022

> As if “any updates? :)” is ever called for

have to disagree here - it's entirely possible that somebody just forgot to deploy something and actually might appreciate the ping.

lapetitejort Feb 28, 2022

Any updates on the pitch drop experiment?

Anthony-G Feb 28, 2022

Should be any day now for my local. According to this student newspaper article from 2018¹:

> With another drop not expected for at least another four years…

¹ https://universitytimes.ie/2018/03/why-trinity-prides-itself...

xboxnolifes Feb 28, 2022

> As if the pointless prodding of “any updates? :)” is ever called for. If there were any updates, there would be fucking updates posted.

Sometimes people forget about things. I know I do.

__s Feb 28, 2022

It's often more a request for ETA, if there's lingering problems you'd like addressed, etc

It can be annoying, but it can also be someone trying to reach out asking if you'd like any help. Maybe it'd be better if they phrased it as "Is there anything I can do to help progress this issue/pr?"

& yeah prodding after a day is silly. But if it's been a couple months then it can make sense

Dobbs Feb 28, 2022

I have pretty extreme ADHD. It is very very easy for something like a ticket to just fall out of my mind and therefore not get followed up on. Polite (very important) and infrequent requests for updates aren't bad, they can be extremely important to keeping things moving forward, both for myself and many others.

igneo676 Feb 28, 2022

FWIW, I delete those comments. More than one posted results in the issue being locked (possibly temporarily). I'm willing to be a jerk so that my fellow maintainers can focus on the work they want to work on.

Anyone who asks for an update can produce one themselves: by creating a PR :)

ilammy Feb 28, 2022

In this case, the prod is posted from an account that was created a minute before.

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