Thread by @imakefoss

Let's talk a bit about MOTIVATION on #FOSS. How much do you need? How can it be maintained?How long can it last? Here it my experience working with #raylib for +7 years... SPOILER: It's not possible to be motivated all the time! 1/n

Original motivation: #raylib started as a weekend project, for my students to learn programming and be able to easily put things on the screen... also view/understand what was happening at a lower level (#opensource)! The idea itself seemed cool enough to motivate me a lot! 2/n

Results motivation: Students loved raylib and they started learning and creating things in just a few weeks... that was a great motivation to keep working, improving the library and adding new features! I received lot of positive feedback and engagement! Very motivating! 3/n

Learning motivation: As #raylib kept growing with new features, I started learning about new fields that seemed very interesting to me (#Android, #RPI, #VR, compression, graphics...). Learning new things everyday and make them work with #raylib was very motivating! 4/n

Feedback motivation: As a result of that learning process, I started other related #FOSS projects using raylib that actually, kept my engaged with raylib! Some examples are #raygui (immediate-mode gui lib), #rres (custom file-format), #rfxgen, #rpng... and lastly @raylibtech. 5/n

@raylibtech Community motivation: Probably one of the most powerful sources of motivation (but also demotivation) that a #FOSS project can get. It's AMAZING to see people from around the world creating things with #raylib and taking about it! But, sometimes, there is also a dark side... 6/n

@raylibtech From time to time you find people that demotivates you: harsh/mocking comments, disrespectful complaints, features demanding with impatience and insistence... to name just a few. Those situations can be really demotivating for a #FOSS developer... 7/n

@raylibtech Fortunately, in the last 7 years working on raylib with a community of thousands of people I only faced those demotivation situations a few times... Most raylib users always keep in mind that raylib is a #FOSS project and they are very educated and respectful! I love it! :D 8/n

@raylibtech Recognition motivation: Finally, I must admit that being awarded with Google Open Source Peer Bonus / #EpicMegaGrants or having the opportunity to share my thoughts on @handmade_seattl / @imakefoss is also a great motivation to keep working on #raylib. Thank you very much! 9/9