I feel a strong urge to add a bit more ramblings here, especially as a response to any "why is XYZ not done yet" comments.

We know that a lot of people have lots of expectations for features that should be included in "the next big release". This is specifically because we used that weird version number for this release, and why the post specifically mentions that we're not done with the things we want for 1.0.

But there is something very fundamental that everyone needs to understand. diaspora* is not built by a team of full-time engineers getting paid for that work. Everyone working on diaspora* is doing that in their free time. This means that we can't spend a lot of time on a project like this, because working a full-time job as a software engineer and then working on even more software in the evenings and on weekends is incredibly taxing on everyone's brains. This also means that we don't have "a management team" making plans and "a development team" turning those plans into reality. We have community contributors who pick something they want to work on, and then work on it.

Why is there an image cropping feature in this release? Because a community contributor thought "hey this is fun, I'm gonna work on this". Why are likes on comments in this release? Because a bunch of awesome people worked on it. If I'd told Thorsten "hey please stop working on likeable comments and instead work on editing posts", he would have questioned if I lost my mind and might have even responded with a middle-finger emoji. And he'd be right doing so. I can't tell him what to work on.

I personally agree that diaspora* is "missing" a bunch of things. I know that our current blocking features are not even close to being good, and I'd personally love an editing feature (fun fact: we briefly thought about re-posting this announcement because we wanted to change the link to the upgrade instructions). But getting these features right is incredibly hard, and I personally can't spend a month of my time on that at the moment, and it seems nobody else is actively working on that - so y'all just have to wait until someone is motivated enough to tackle those things.

A mistake that we (as a project team, that is) did was to ever "promise" anything at all. Because the reality is, we can't promise things - and we can't tell you when any given thing will be done. Because I can't even tell you how many hours of engineering work we get done every week (or if any at all).

diaspora* never was a project that moved fast and built all the fancy features out there. And diaspora* never will be such a project. When we ship something, we want it to work and be good. One example of that is our account migration feature. Other networks allow you to "migrate" your account in a way that's just redirecting your old profile to your new one. We really don't like that, because you'll lose all your posting history, and all interactions to your old posts (and all control over those interactions). So we're working on a migration feature that actually transfers all your posts and interactions to your new account. Sure, working on that feature is orders of magnitude more work than just shipping a half-assed solution, but that's just how we prefer to do things.

If you want a project that moves as fast as a project driven by full-time engineers, then use a product driven by full-time engineers. And if you want a project that prioritizes shipping new features over stability and polish, then there are projects like that for you, too.

Please, please, please stop asking about when your favorite feature will be done. It will be done when it's done, and that's the only answer you'll ever get.

@Birne Helene

But, if you allow me the question, when will we be able to edit a post already published?

The message above your question already says everything that needs to be said: "We have a lot of plans and a lot of ideas. Sadly, not a lot of time."

getting the Like button on comments instead does feel a bit like being put off.

It's not an "instead", somebody wanted to work on likes on comments, so there we have it. It has nothing to do with any other features. Or should I have told the people who worked on the likes on comments, that I won't merge it, because you don't want this feature before another completely unrelated feature is done? Or what are your expectations? And what about the people who want likes on comments instead? Or a different feature? So now we have a Deadlock.

Maybe we should just not add any new features anymore, that way we completely eliminate the risk of accidentally release the wrong features, because somebody wanted something else instead? Is that what you want?

People are putting their own free time into developing a feature they want to work on (because they want that feature themselves, or find it an interesting problem to solve, or whatever reason). We can't tell people what they are allowed to work on and what they can't work on.

If you really want a specific feature to happen, you can work on it yourself (that's what the people who developed the features included in this release did). And then after it's done, you too can experience the joy of other people telling you that you have done it all wrong and should have done a different feature instead, because they wanted something else more than what you did.

Comments like these (you aren't the only one) are actually the main reason why my motivation for working on diaspora is so low, because whatever I do, I always get told by somebody that I should have done something else instead (and it's not just one thing, everybody wants something different). Well maybe I could also just use my free time for another hobby instead? I have put a fair bit of my free time of the past 2 weeks into getting this release done, so we can get these features (which were already done) out, so more people can enjoy them. But I'm already starting to regret it. 🤷

If getting "the wrong features" makes you feel like being put off, maybe think how it makes the people feel who actually developed the features included in this release, but you are now telling them they shouldn't have done them?

And to all the others, who are actually enjoying the new release and the new features, thank you. ❤ Sorry for the little rant, but I needed to get this out now.

I've read this thread with interest. I've been doing software development since the mid-1980s and can say I still enjoy it. When someone appreciates my work and says so, it is truly thrilling. Alas "ah, that's nice, but what about this idea?" can feel a bit deflating. Of course we know this actually comes from a place of appreciation in the sense that one who doesn't care would say nothing.

In 2016 Donald Trump was elected president. I was truly surprised. Later I would learn about Cambridge Analytica and how they had been using Facebook data to delivery very narrowly targeted ads. As an long time Emacs user I had decided to express my appreciation by joining the Free Software Foundation. So they had been sending me their mailer and ran several articles about Free Software based social media. So... I decided to make the jump. I announced my plans on Facebook and invited my Facebook "friends" to follow me -- no one did 🙁

I tried a few different platforms before landing here on this pod. Initially it felt like I had left a big city was living a small town a few people who didn't say much. It was so quiet! But... I kept at, posting when I could, and now... I couldn't imagine living in X or Facebook world. No thanks!

For those with means I recommend supporting your pod with a few dollars. Other ways are available too. I've never regretted my FSF membership (and yes, I'm aware of issues around RMS). Fortunately there are lots of ways of supporting Free Software. Just being a user is one. But, of course, where would we be with out the actual developers and all the myriad projects they work on?

My thanks goes out to them!

Cheers, -Randy