Neofetch developer archives all his repositories: "Have taken up farming"
An open-source developer behind tools like Neofetch has archived all his GitHub repositories, saying he has “taken up farming,” prompting reflection on leaving software for more tangible, rural work. Commenters weigh the romantic appeal of small-scale homesteading against the economic and physical realities of commercial agriculture, noting that it’s far more viable as a semi-retirement hobby than a primary income source. The thread also highlights how unpaid maintenance burdens in open source contribute to burnout, and points readers to community-maintained alternatives that can replace the archived projects.
Overall reaction to archiving and “taken up farming”
- Many express happiness and respect for the decision, contrasting it with more abrupt, mysterious disappearances of past OSS figures.
- Several note that his GitHub activity had already dropped sharply around 2021; mass‑archiving is seen as a clear signal he’s done, not an invitation to keep expecting maintenance.
- Some view “taken up farming” as possibly tongue‑in‑cheek shorthand for “doing something totally non‑tech,” but others take it literally; the thread does not conclusively clarify this.
Open source maintenance, expectations, and burnout
- Multiple comments highlight how much responsibility falls on solo maintainers in popular OSS, often without funding.
- There’s debate over whether “OSS needs more people” vs. “OSS should be treated as free code with no right to demand maintenance.”
- A recurring theme: users feel entitled; maintainers feel guilt or harassment; this leads to burnout and eventually hard exits like archiving everything.
- Some argue the healthiest model is: publish code, expect users to fork if they need ongoing work.
Farming: romance vs. reality
- Strong split:
- Enthusiasts describe farming/homesteading as life‑changing, grounding, and more meaningful than abstract software work.
- Skeptics emphasize long hours, low margins, high capital costs, exposure to weather, machinery, and injury.
- Many stress the difference between:
- Industrial/commercial farming (complex, capital‑intensive, risky, often thin profits).
- Hobby/small‑scale or semi‑retirement farms (more lifestyle than livelihood, often subsidized by savings or another job).
- Several note farmers must be polymaths (mechanics, vets, accountants, marketers) and sometimes engage with futures/forward contracts and subsidies; others push back that many small farmers don’t actually trade futures themselves.
Lifestyle, meaning, and “touching grass”
- Numerous anecdotes from people who left high‑pressure tech jobs for lower‑paid but saner roles or rural life, often reporting better work‑life balance and mental health.
- Others admit trying farming or rural living, finding it instructive but ultimately preferring city life or intellectually demanding software work.
- Common advice: if you romanticize farming, try working on a real farm first; breaks and experimentation are valuable, but so is understanding the hard parts.
Project continuity and alternatives
- Some wish the projects had been transferred to an org; others think clear archival is kinder than half‑abandoned repos.
- Community points to alternatives to his tools (e.g., neofetch forks/clones, lists of “fetch” utilities) for users who still need similar functionality.