Naming is hard. I kicked off some discussions because I think we need to rename the CHAOSS Bus Factor metric to something less macabre. People seem to agree that we should rename it, but wow is there little to no consensus about what we should call it! What have I gotten myself into? I know better than to get involved in naming things 🤣 🤪
@geekygirldawn I thought the entire industry had settled on Pony Factor. I've now seen this in presentations completely unconnected to the originator of the term.
@expoliticaljunkie@geekygirldawn it's really not to the point. The problem is not people randomly dying, it is overwhelmingly people changing jobs (or having their job responsibilities changing).
@luis_in_brief@expoliticaljunkie But in the context of open source projects, I don't think "Boss Factor" applies as well as it does in software dev teams within orgs.
@geekygirldawn@expoliticaljunkie I hate to say “read the post” but… read the post. The CMU research, driven by extensive data work backed by qualitative interviews with open source maintainers on GitHub, says that the main reason open source project maintainers stop maintaining is because of changes at work.
@geekygirldawn (and if that reads as angry, it... is? I find the industry's deeply-embedded cultural 🙈🙉 when it comes to the links between personal finances and small-project maintenance increasingly infuriating.)
@luis_in_brief I agree with your frustration about people disconnecting finances from maintainer health. Also, as someone who recently and very suddenly lost a key maintainer in a car accident, I also have lots of feels about this topic and know first hand how disruptive this can be, regardless of the reason.
@geekygirldawn yes, when I first posted this article in 2019 lots of other friends of Seth Vidal (close friend of mine, yum maintainer, killed by a drunk driver while cycling home from work at RH) had Feels in response.
So, yes, I'm fine with a label that replaces the whole dreaded "factor" language.
@luis_in_brief@expoliticaljunkie Changes at work may be the main reason, but it's not the only reason.
We're actually leaning toward something more descriptive and inclusive, like Key Contributor Count.
@geekygirldawn@luis_in_brief If I can elbow in on this one point: numerical accuracy is not the only criterion for a good term. Another useful facet of the "Bus"/"Meteor" term is that it communicates an event that is unforeseeable and instantaneous.
Yeah, layoffs can happen without warning, but not all job changes are sudden/unforeseen. Many come with advance notice, include transition time, handover training etc.
@geekygirldawn@luis_in_brief (or, to be more succinct — the macabre terminology is an admonition to projects to plan for the unexpected.
"This is normal and happens regularly" isn't really communicating that. So it might fail to have the desired effect... some percentage of the time....)
@n8@geekygirldawn fair point! Unfortunately, on the flip side, the framing of it as rare/unexpected means too many just say either "don't actually have to prepare" or "can't prepare", when the mundane reality is something they could actually deal with.
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