The #drupal consultant
Heine —Thu, 2009/08/06 - 10:22
A gem on the Drupal consulting mailinglist (emphasis added):
[...] when she's come up with the particular (and often peculiar) requirements, I haven't charged for the time I spend [...] chatting about it on #drupal
Well, we didn't charge you for the chat either, did we?
Considering the continued increase of consultants / drupal experts asking questions related to client work on #drupal, I'm done with providing free support there. Unless you work on core, contrib, do something interesting, or try to further Drupal, of course :)
If you are a #drupal regular, what's your take on the matter?
Comments
Helping on #drupal
Submitted by Suydam (not verified) on Thu, 2009/08/06 - 12:48I would suggest it's in all our best interest's to continue to offer free support on IRC just as we should all contribute modules back to the community when possible.
I still offer free assistance there when I'm actually signed in. If I can help out a consultant this time, maybe they'll help me next time.
I consider #drupal a place where consultants can help each other. I just cherry pick my questions. I don't "waste time" (mine, that is) answering "How do I setup the audio module," but if someone has a specific question about the usage of a module (which still isn't a developer question) I'll gladly pitch in. For example "How do I get Views2 to show nodes owned by the current user" is different than "Can someone help me learn views2?"
Half and half...
Submitted by NikLP (not verified) on Thu, 2009/08/06 - 13:11I feel that as long as we're all putting back into these channels what we're taking out, it shouldn't be a problem. I spent a vast amount of time helping out in various channels when I started out here, as a way to continue my learning. I'm probably taking more out than putting in at the moment, but I don't feel I'm generating a "karmic imbalance", if you like.
Being a member of the #drupaluk channel, I'm pleased that we are "clubbing together" in there to help each other out - because the membership is so small, we can afford to use that channel as a localised, multi-purpose networking group. Hence, we can talk business, code and support issues in the same space without annoying each other. That gives us (well, me) a "first line" of support before we jump into #drupal with our (my) stupid questions.
In terms of who pays who for what - I've certainly been paid for bits of support I've given. If I've been asked a complex question that I know will take up to an hour to explain and demonstrate, I've asked up front for cash, and no-one has ever been dismayed by that. It's quality time for proper advice and tuition.
I'd also consider (although not always) cross-charging a client for exploratory work on IRC, if it was lengthy - but then I'd of course consider paying my advisers in lieu of that time. If they don't get paid, I pay back in free time to the community when I can. I don't think I've been lacking in generosity with my time over the last three years.
I think the main issue with anyone getting ticked off about the status quo on #drupal is that the closer you get to "the top" of the Drupal food chain, the less advice you need. In that situation, it seems like all the energy and time is flowing away from you. This is where it gets dangerous - all the real hardcore knowledge is forever trapped at the top. Consider the depth of knowledge of well know developers such as Jeff Eaton, Earl Miles, Adrian Roussow, to name just a couple - do they *ever* have free time? Each makes their own effort, but it's a struggle, and it's no secret why - they're busy doing hardcore stuff.
So, whilst knowledge does flow "around" the system, there is a kind of glut of it at the top of the food chain. I don't think that charging for time to get that knowledge released is a bad thing - as long as there is a mechanism to enable its release in some form, that's ok, right? Generic FOSS mantras notwithstanding, I suppose...
Being able to get quick
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 2009/08/06 - 14:40Being able to get quick answers to deep technical questions is one of the things that makes Drupal viable and competitive. Helping people use Drupal is helping Drupal succeed. And the more success Drupal has, the more successful we'll all be.
I am wondering how many
Submitted by Laura (not verified) on Thu, 2009/08/06 - 16:37I am wondering how many people on #drupal are doing Drupal just for altruistic or hobbyist reasons.
Hobbyist
Submitted by Michelle (not verified) on Mon, 2009/08/10 - 15:19I don't think there's many of us hobbyists anymore, especially on #drupal, but there's some. It's hard to stay a hobbyist if you get good enough to be able to help others... People start wanting to throw money at you to solve their problems. And not many people are crazy enough to turn down money to work on Drupal for free. *looks around for the men in white coats* :)
Michelle
Heine, I'm sure you're not
Submitted by Zohar (not verified) on Thu, 2009/08/06 - 17:37Heine, I'm sure you're not giving any help on #drupal, or any other channel for that matter, because you have too. It's part of your (our) way of being a contributing part of the community, which contributes back to yourself, I'm sure.
I'm rarely on #drupal, since I put a lot of effort on our local channels (Israel), but I figure it's the same - I give help for free, and it generates paying clients (the famous Karma, if you'd like).
Moreover, I don't really care if the person to whom I'm helping is charging money for getting answers from me. It's quite clumsy of him/her to declare it, but it's their problem, not mine.
Don't let pseudo-consultants like that to take the air out of your sails.
Mixed bag
Submitted by Jeff Eaton (not verified) on Fri, 2009/08/07 - 01:30When I first read the quote, I thought that the consultant in question was suggesting charging people for helping them in IRC. After reading a bit closer, though, it sounds like they were discussing charging clients for the time they spent researching in IRC and on drupal.org.
I'm torn: on the one hand, those consultants are getting the information "for free" from the folks who hang out in #drupal. On the other hand, I think that the research that any of us do when we're digging into a problem is certainly part of the work that we do as developers, consultants, and architects. If I spend a couple of hours digging up how to solve an odd problem for a client, I'm going to be digging through contrib, googling for similar solutions,asking around in IRC, and so on. Some of those use my knowledge of Drupal, others use my problem-solving and research abilities, others are basically "cashing in" my #drupal karma for help or pointers from others.
Ultimately, if someone is a 'sponge' in IRC, always asking for help, always pleading for detailed walkthroughs from the helpful folks that hang around, never contributing back in a way that fills their karma meter back up, the problem takes care of itself. They don't get answers, because those with the knowledge don't carve out time to answer their questions.
That said, I usually don't take a lot of time to help in #drupal proper, either: I usually end up working on articles, screencasts, or (hah!) book chapters to cover the stuff that I think I can help with. Pointing people to those resources is, for me at least, easier than explaining it on-demand. I hang out more in the development oriented channels and a few private haunts where folks who are doing odd hacking and tweaking know to peek in. Is that elitist? I'm not sure. But all of us have some kinds of mechanisms to ensure that we don't spend 24/7 helping the needy while our paying clients gather cobwebs...
My thoughts
Submitted by Michelle (not verified) on Mon, 2009/08/10 - 15:23I agree with those who said that there's taking and giving. Back when I was still freelancing, I'd occasionally ask for help with something that was going to a client. But I also give back a whole lot of my time. If people just take and never give, the system will break down. But so far it seems to be working well.
And those at the top still do find time to help out. merlinofchaos will help you with his modules if you're working on something that goes back to the community. I've seen chx help people in #drupal quite a few times. And that's just a couple examples. So I don't think the knowledge is locked up at the top. But you need to do your time helping others in order to get access to it. Which I think is a good thing. They have limited time to help people and it _should_ go to those who will use it to help the community and not just line their own pockets.
MIchelle
Use Drupal.org, not IRC chat.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 2009/12/15 - 14:04Just to mention it another time, IRC chat is not documented. It's a one-time help for one person only. Following the regular channel on Drupal.org by filing an issue and so on, will contribute to the knowledge database that is accessible to anyone, anytime. An answer provided there helps tons of other people besides the original poster of a question.
I make pretty complex sites with Drupal but never needed to make consultations on IRC, nor needed to post an issue myself on Drupal.org. There was always someone that had the same problem before me. Okay, sometimes it takes a bit of effort to find the right post, but the more you do it the better you become choosing the right keywords.
I admire those people that post an issue, find the solution themselves before an answer comes in, and post it anyway for others to use. At first it looks a bit silly, a question that someone answers themselves, but I used the info of many of such posts. A huge "Thank You" for all those that SHARE their knowledge on Drupal.org. It helps me every day without making others spend time just for me.
Refusing to help out on IRC is admirable, because it forces people to use the regular channels. Time spent on issue cues on Drupal.org is worthwhile, on IRC it's wasted. To socialize use the local pub or sports club. Don't use IRC.