I’ve recently had some life changes, and it’s going to impact how json-everything is maintained. I just wanted to put out a quick post to let everyone know what’s going on. I want to be open and transparent about the project and its future.
tl;dr
I’m starting full-time work again on Monday, so I’ll be less available to work on the libraries than I have been for the past couple years.
I’m still fully invested in the project: it continues to be my passion. However, updates will likely come more slowly than you’ve grown accustomed to.
What happened?
About three years ago, Ben Hutton, the unofficial JSON Schema project leader (unofficial because none of us have official titles there), was approached by Postman with a deal to work on JSON Schema full time. They added him to their payroll to facilitate a sort of sponsorship and basically left him alone to work on the project. About a year later, Postman approved bringing three more of the JSON Schema team into this sponsorship. I was one of them. Shortly later, we added a community manager, making five people working full-time on JSON Schema.
So for the past two years, I’ve been able to work on this project and JSON Schema full-time, full-remote, and it’s been great. I also learned during that time that Postman was similarly sponsoring AsyncAPI and Microcks, two other API-centric projects.
However, recently it seems that Postman has had some internal changes in their sights: changes that didn’t include supporting JSON Schema or AsyncAPI. I can’t speak to what influenced those changes, but as of late July, Postman is no longer sponsoring these two projects through individual support. (Supposedly they’re still donating to the overall projects.) This decision left eight of us without income.
Overall, I’m grateful to Postman (and Kin Lane, specifically) for this opportunity. JSON Schema has really benefited from having five people working full time on the project for two years.
It had to end at some point. I just thought it would go longer. There were signs, but what we were being told was that the sponsorship wasn’t in danger of ending.
What’s next?
Well, naturally, I’ve had to go find a job. Some of the other JSON Schema team members had come from a consulting background, so they were used to more sporadic income, and they’re mostly looking to return to that. But I was an enterprise developer before, so that’s what I’ve been looking for.
Fortunately, the New Zealand tech scene is pretty tight-knit, and a lot of us know each other. I had an almost-colleague (we had just missed each other at a previous employer) reach out with a position that was opening up, and I had several interviews for other roles that had been going well. Ultimately, I decided on the role with my colleague and I start on Monday! The company and team is much smaller than I’ve worked with before, and I’m really looking forward to the “startup” mentality of just getting stuff done as well as the opportunity to contribute toward building a work culture as the company grows.
Working on a passion project
I really enjoyed the opportunity to get paid to work on projects that hold my passion, but I don’t think I’d do it again.
Postman was really good about letting us manage ourselves, and they didn’t provide any input as to where the project should go. It was obvious they just wanted the project to flourish on its own. Any public perception that they had somehow “bought” JSON Schema was misplaced, but I suppose it was only possible to really know that by being on the inside.
However, before I worked on JSON Schema and my open source projects full time, I worked on them when I could, when I wanted to. Since being “employed” to build JSON Schema, I found that having a requirement to work on it discouraged my desire to do so. It became less of a passion project, and instead it truly became a job.
Don’t get me wrong, though. I still cared; it’s just that choosing to do something is quite different than being required to do it.
Since Postman stopped their sponsorship, I’ve read a lot of articles and seen a lot of YouTube videos that basically say the same, and it seems to apply across all fields, not just software. The general consensus from those who have experienced turning a hobby into work is that your hobby should probably stay a hobby.
Keep moving forward
So json-everything and my efforts in JSON Schema are returning to an “evenings and weekends, as I have time for it” gig.
I’ve recently seen an increase in PRs from users on json-everything, which I’m grateful for and excited about. I hope this trend continues and it can become more of a community project rather than just something that I threw out into the void.
Thanks to everyone who contributes code, ideas, and questions. And thanks to those who have supported me directly.
If you like the work I put out, and would like to help ensure that I keep it up, please consider becoming a sponsor!