For some people, when they realize how me and all other project maintainers out there are treated, they are horrified (and I’m not exaggerating when I say all project maintainers; I have yet to meet a maintainer who doesn’t suffer this kind of abuse). Others, though, don’t quite get it, so I’ve tried to come up with an analogy to help explain it.

Source: Why I took October off from OSS volunteering

Reading Brett’s tale of how he as an open source maintainer was treated, kept making me think “yes”, “this”, and “OMG, so much this”.

Working in the open and taking on the burden of maintainership is a giant challenge. Over the last year+, I’ve tried to say thank you more often to fellow maintainers.  It’s a small act, but it’s one that I think is important for anyone that considers themselves a leader.