Considering that OSS maintainers are driven by passion/purpose and not money, I'd say it matters very very much whether or not they are paid. I'm talking purely selfishly. If you depend on code written by a volunteer, it is in your own self interest to keep that volunteer motivated.
Also, don't be an asshole. Is that really so hard? It's literally not doing something. It is by definition less work.
That doesn't change a thing I said. If you demotivate them and convince them that being a maintainer is actually harming their reputation, they will stop doing the work.
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u/jpflathead Dec 06 '16
People are a bell curve with more than a few black swans. Same as projects.
Some projects are shit, but sold as champagne.
How one offers feedback should have zero to do with whether some maintainer is paid or not.
JavaScript fatigue is real and brought to us by many paid and unpaid people, and often the unpaid ones still benefit via résumé and consulting etc.
So whatever, ...