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Amruth Pillai
Amruth Pillai

Posted on

Dealing with requests on your open-source projects

Hey everyone!

So, I launched a new project about 2-3 weeks ago, and I'm glad to report that it's still catching a lot of stars on GitHub... on one hand, it makes me highly motivated and happy to continue working on the project.

But then, now and again, I receive emails like this:
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I am at fault here cause I released a product out in the wild with, albeit, big problems but that's cause I assumed I would learn in the process. It's difficult to keep up the motivation when you hear that you've wasted someone's time or if someone calls your work useless.

I know I might not be alone here, others might have received emails like this too or gotten requests with no acknowledgment on their GitHub Issues. How do you keep going? How do you stay strong to keep supporting the app?

I know an obvious answer would be just to focus on those who give constructive criticism, as opposed to those who just give feedback like this, but it's not that easy for me to let go.

Top comments (1)

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thomaslombart profile image
Thomas Lombart • Edited

Hey there 👋
First, congratulations on your project. It's simple, beautiful, and easy to use.

Unfortunately, like every app, there are bugs, and there's always room for improvement. Some people let you know constructively, and others let you know harshly. It's still feedback, though! Even if it's not pleasant to read, you can improve your app with that.

Humans are definitely more focused on negative things than positive things. I think that you got really excited by the fact that your project was appreciated and gaining more traction. Obviously, you were disappointed by seeing this negative feedback.

How to keep going and stay strong? It depends on why you started this project. You started it for a reason. Is it for yourself? For others? Did you want to show your skills? If your personal goal with this project is still there, remember it and just keep going! There will always be bad feedbacks, no matter what. You can build nearly-perfect things and yet, there will be people who complain about it.

So, remember:

  1. There will always be bad feedbacks. Take the good from these bad feedbacks and ignore the rest.
  2. Focus on what matter, on what gives you motivation with this project, on what makes you happy.