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Re: open letter

I became a member of the Nix team when it formed in '22, because at the time, this important project only had a single maintainer and was virtually incapable of accepting contributions.

It was clear to me that change would be difficult, as Nix is a complex project. We have made great strides as a team in the past 1,5 years, building confidence and trust with the code and each other, and making increasingly significant improvements.

Unfortunately, the largely volunteer team (including me) can't spend the time the project deserves. We are aware of this, and we are looking to expand the team, but that can't happen overnight, due to the nature of the project, the time available, and the latency of async communication.

Communication also seems to be the core of the issue. Our broader communication of the status of the project has been lacking severely. Saying things like "we're still working to improve" and "we're dependent on volunteer time for all of this, including my own" isn't easy - but necessary.

This leads to bad expectations in everyday communication too. Is a to-the-point GitHub comment cold or technical?
We aren't cold. I invite anyone who's skeptical to join the Nix team meetings.

If you're interested in the open letter, I hope you may (re)read it from this perspective.
While it is rooted in real grievances, I can not trust it, because it assumes the worst, and extrapolates a lot. I'm not here to "debunk" the whole letter or anything like that, but these are some of the facts that are important to me:

- We did move the meeting to an American-friendly time (probably 1-3 weeks too late to matter).
- The installer received almost no attention from the Nix team, because it required almost none.
- Eelco tends to make absolute statements, but that doesn't mean they're not up for discussion, and frequently he can be convinced.
- Nix is a critical project, so we tend to lean towards consensus rather than quick action.
- I am not aware of psychological safety issues in the team, and the authors haven't asked me.
- The team is capable of blocking rushed features from any party including DetSys, Example: flake schemas.

I don't know what will happen. I don't oppose the idea of a fork. Competition is good, but I wouldn't like a part of the broader community to be lead by a person or group that appears to prefer threats over collaboration.

I hope something good comes out of this.
Regardless, I will keep contributing where it's needed.