Eclipse Top Ten #6: Eclipse is like family

Photo by Anne Jacko

The Eclipse community is sometimes like a large extended family.
You have PDE cousins.
SWT and p2 Aunts.
CDT and WTP Uncles.
It’s good to have a shared history so people understand where you're coming from and the perspective you bring to the table.
To have people to back you up when times are tough.
You can share funny stories.
Gossip.
Families ask tough questions.
In your real family, someone at the dinner table might ask “When are you getting married?”.
In Eclipse, the question will be “When is your project going to become more diverse?”.
Just a note, in the context of Eclipse, diversity always seems to refer to the number of different companies working on a project. In a more traditional office environment, it would refer to the number of women or visible minorities.
Other questions from the Eclipse family might might be:
“When are you going to fix that bug that I opened three years ago?”.
“You know, that company isn’t really pulling it’s weight. They need to step it up and donate more resources”.
Honesty is good. It’s great that we can have candid discussions about the future.
The interactions that I’ve had with the Eclipse community over the years have been overwhelmingly positive.
However, for me, there have been some awkward moments with the Eclipse family.
Here’s a question – what shouldn’t you do with family?
Anyone?
You shouldn’t flirt with family.
No.
In the past, I've received some very friendly emails from random members of the community. People that I don't know.
There are many fine dating sites on the internet. Eclipse.org isn't one of them.

Previous Top Ten posts

1, 2, 3, 4, 5