Sounds like OS developers would benefit from Product Managers who could shield them from the users (among other PM tasks). Do many OS projects have PMs? Are there any "standards" around non dev roles in OS projects?
Unfortunately my experience is that most PMs are not sufficiently technical. They will often add more work by injecting useless processes and try to "demonstrate value" by coming up with new ideas without actually understanding the problem domain.
The best approach I have found is simply to add more automated gates/bots. If people have not done what the bot asks, there's no need to waste time/energy on them.
> > Unfortunately my experience is that most PMs are not sufficiently technical.
> Yeah. And I eventually came to realize: lazy.
Lazy is just one side of the coin. If someone's career is focused on unsexy hard work instead of halfheartedly "demonstrating value", the core problem is not that they cannot slack off. The core problem is that others can hold them hostage.
Bigger project here, but over at LibreOffice, our shield is a strong quality assurance team. 20-30 active triagers. The number has stayed constant over the years and we actively recruit. How I do recruiting: https://discourse.sustainoss.org/t/how-i-recruit-and-mentor-...
