@geekygirldawn Bus Factor is macabre, but that is the point! I vote to keep the term.

@geekygirldawn "Lottery factor"? If they win the lottery and decide to do *something else*, it's a much more positive way to look at it.

@geekygirldawn As I do this in CNCF, I'm thinking about it in terms of "replacement values". Like, what needs to be replaced and what value does it serve to replace that function.
Or maybe I'm wrong.

@geekygirldawn I thought the entire industry had settled on Pony Factor. I've now seen this in presentations completely unconnected to the originator of the term.

@geekygirldawn

How do you feel about Know-How count?

You basicially count the members of the organisation who have the relevant Know-How.

@geekygirldawn Always preferred the 'what if I win the lottery?' scenario over the 'what if I get hit by a bus?' one.

@rbowen The concern about Pony Factor is that the name is based on kind of an ASF in joke, which people struggle to understand.

@geekygirldawn To be fair, even those of us who are in on the joke couldn't adequately explain it to anyone else. 😂 🐎

@Conan_Kudo I tend to call it Lottery Factor, so that's on our list :)

@geekygirldawn @Conan_Kudo that’s what I typically go for in work settings, but does it work so well for open source where it’s possible if someone won the lottery they’d be very happy that they no longer need to find funding for the project they’re working on?

@jon @Conan_Kudo Exactly :) That's the main objection to Lottery Factor - I've had so many maintainers tell me that if they won the lottery, they would spend more, not less, time on their OSS projects :)

@expoliticaljunkie @geekygirldawn it's really not to the point. The problem is not people randomly dying, it is overwhelmingly people changing jobs (or having their job responsibilities changing).

(taps the sign, yet again) https://blog.tidelift.com/bus-factor-boss-factor-and-the-economics-of-disappearing-maintainers

@luis_in_brief @expoliticaljunkie But in the context of open source projects, I don't think "Boss Factor" applies as well as it does in software dev teams within orgs.

@geekygirldawn @luis_in_brief @expoliticaljunkie "Life Factor". You could be working on it because reason, on your own time and then life takes over.
Example:
- current job no longer allow the time
- family duties
- gone on sabbatical
- health
- hit by a bus

Etc.

@geekygirldawn @expoliticaljunkie I hate to say “read the post” but… read the post. The CMU research, driven by extensive data work backed by qualitative interviews with open source maintainers on GitHub, says that the main reason *open source project maintainers* stop maintaining is because of *changes at work*.

@luis_in_brief @expoliticaljunkie Changes at work may be the *main* reason, but it's not the *only* reason.
We're actually leaning toward something more descriptive and inclusive, like Key Contributor Count.

@geekygirldawn (and if that reads as angry, it... is? I find the industry's deeply-embedded cultural 🙈🙉 when it comes to the links between personal finances and small-project maintenance increasingly infuriating.)

@luis_in_brief I agree with your frustration about people disconnecting finances from maintainer health. Also, as someone who recently and very suddenly lost a key maintainer in a car accident, I also have lots of feels about this topic and know first hand how disruptive this can be, regardless of the reason.

@geekygirldawn yes, when I first posted this article in 2019 lots of other friends of Seth Vidal (close friend of mine, yum maintainer, killed by a drunk driver while cycling home from work at RH) had Feels in response.

So, yes, I'm fine with a label that replaces the whole dreaded "factor" language.

@geekygirldawn @luis_in_brief If I can elbow in on this one point: numerical accuracy is not the _only_ criterion for a good term. Another useful facet of the "Bus"/"Meteor" term is that it communicates an event that is unforeseeable and instantaneous.

Yeah, layoffs _can_ happen without warning, but not _all_ job changes are sudden/unforeseen. Many come with advance notice, include transition time, handover training etc.