GitHub hosted the “Wontfix Cabal” last week in San Francisco, and I was lucky enough to attend, thanks to a pointer from a friend. The organizers, led by Jess Frazelle, conceived the gathering as a chance for people maintaining open source projects to discuss their particular difficulties and some strategies for addressing them. About 100 maintainers took them up on it and convened in San Francisco. At the beginning of the day, we compiled dozens of sticky notes worth of problems that come up in our various projects. These ranged from tips for maintainers who had received the classic question “Is this project still maintained?” to “Ethics and Exploitation in Open Source.” In a common unconference pattern, attendees voted on those topics. The most popular topics were chosen to become discussion groups, and we split up for a morning session and an afternoon session. Continue reading “Attending the Wontfix Cabal”