Since the beginning of the year, there's been a bit of a pattern over on @kbinDevlog:
- Ernest posts, saying he'll get back to regular devlogs in 1-4 days;
- Absolutely nothing happens for the next 2 weeks or so;
- Ernest posts again, saying he'll get back to regular devlogs in 1-4 days;
- etc.
Now, it's understandable for your plans to change in response to unforeseen events popping up or foreseen events taking longer than expected. From what I can tell, the delays have been due to formalities and medical issues, and I absolutely believe that Ernest should prioritize his physical health over Kbin.
That being said, if you can't go back to the usual pattern of development within the time frame you promised, then it's best for people to know sooner so they aren't left wondering what's happening. If you said 2 days but you need to delay, I'd like to know soon after those 2 days as opposed to getting silence for 2 weeks.
This time around, the culprit of the silence may be complications in a hospital procedure he recently underwent as per his most recent devlog. However, that doesn't explain the periods of nothing before then, so I'm still left wondering why quick updates have been so infrequent over a 2-month period.
Additionally, there are some major problems being caused by Ernest's absence:
- Big magazines that Ernest moderates, like @tech, are riddled with spam.
- Abandoned magazine moderation have been unanswered, so people can't pitch in to deal with spam even if they wanted to.
- Nothing has happened on the Codeberg for over 2 months (except for one translation-related change which wasn't done by Ernest), so we're in the dark as to what progress is actually being made.
- Kbin is still, well, in an undeveloped state, meaning issues like poor microblog federation have persisted for months.
So, @ernest, if you're in a position to answer, what's going on rn, and could you have someone moderate the instance or work on the project in situations like this where you're absent? I hope this doesn't come across as unnecessary whining, but I think this pattern is becoming a genuine problem.
Thanks a ton for the update Ernest! It's great to hear from you, and I hope your health improves soon.
That being said, I do have a few things I'd like to suggest.
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If I'm interpreting this correctly (i.e., that you chose not to give any updates as to prevent people freaking out), I don't think this was the best move. I understand where you were coming from, but (if you were able) some sort of small status update would've been preferable to a month-long silence (especially since you'd previously said that you'd be unavailable for only 2–4 days). A simple "Hey, I'm currently not doing well. I'll get back to things as soon as I'm feeling better," would've at least let us know that you were alive and that the project hadn't been abandoned.
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I don't think this whole "holding off for a big announcement" thing is a great approach, at least not now. There are currently several issues that we're waiting to see fixed, and we have no idea which ones (if any) are being worked on. If you must wait for a big reveal though, at least telling us, "I'm still working on stuff" would be better than nothing.
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And finally, I really suggest getting some more admins for the instance. You're absolutely correct to prioritize your health over Kbin; nevertheless, it's far from ideal for your absence to mean that spam piles up, moderation requests lie unanswered, and accounts can't be deleted. We'd all appreciate it if you could have at least one extra person on deck for whenever you're ill or in need of a break.
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Thanks again for all you do for Kbin, and I hope things get better!