Disclaimer: the author plugs his own consultancy (which I have nothing to do with), but I forgive him, as he none-the-less makes several highly insightful and thought-provoking points that resonated with me, and I felt were well said:
Just beware that you aren’t being taken advantage of. Be dispassionate.
Rare jem of an article there.
“Not only are passionate people expected to work for free, they’re also easier to manipulate. Tell a passionate person something he wants to hear, and he may turn off further critical thinking because the praise feels good.”
“What happens if we train our people and they leave?”
“What happens if we don’t and they stay?”
Yes, he has identified rarely-mentioned social patterns in the Open Source world. On the one hand, the whole thing works by people being willing to “give back”. But when too much “giving back” is done, then it can lead to burnout.
It’s kind of a grey area as to what a healthy amount of “giving back” looks like.