ezyang’s blog

the arc of software bends towards understanding

Open Source

Tips for running a hackathon

A hackathon is an event, spanning from a day to a week, where hackers (not the cracking kind) get together to work on some common goals in concert. One use of a hackathon is to get some open-source contributors together and work hard on a particular feature: the combination of being together and being expected […]

  • October 1, 2010

How to get answers from busy maintainers

As one of those “busy maintainers,” I’ve noticed that I assume a certain cognitive mode when fielding support requests. This post is about how I deal with support requests, but I’ve also seen this behavior widely on other projects. While, as the person making the request, you may find such a mentality frustrating and obtuse, […]

  • September 29, 2010