I looked at the code... writing my own parser would be faster than fixing it. But that's beside the point. I decided to use a 3rd party library because I did not want to invest my time into that. The moment I had to even look at the source code, that was broken.
Surely thats the 'cost' of using someone elses' work without paying for it/otherwise remunerating the author? Its hardly their fault you found a bug that you decided you couldn't/wouldn't fix ..
But surely, the moment you integrate the random library into your project, you assumed responsibility for it - warts and all? I just can't see the moral authority that you've granted yourself to complain about the library and the effort required to continue to maintain it, when it clearly was of advantage to you to integrate it into your project in the first place .. Don't you think it was a privilege that some stranger wrote code that you used in your project, in spite of the thorns?
You completely took that out of the context. I wrote about it to show how risky it is to pick a random library, not to complain about the author.
> But surely, the moment you integrate the random library into your project, you assumed responsibility for it.
No, you don't. Your only responsibility is your project. If the library is broken, and the original author doesn't want to fix it, it's time to evaluate whether it's easier to remove it, replace it with something else or fix it yourself. You are not obliged to fix it yourself at all. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but the world doesn't work that way.
Alas, you and I simply disagree. I wager that full responsibility for ones project implies the onus of fixing whatever problems you introduce into the project by importing the external dependency in the first place.
Were you my junior, telling this to me as your project manager, I'd demand you fix the bug. The reason is - we already gained from your decision to advance the project by including the external work, and at the moment you included it in your project you accepted responsibility for the issue. Failing to take responsibility for this code, whether you wrote it or not, would be a major distraction from the task, and thus does not reflect positively on you as a developer...
So you're okay with 3rd-party features, which you willingly import into your project and utilize to make your job easier, but you're not okay with taking responsibility for any bugs in those 3rd-party libraries. Doesn't make any sense. I'm glad you're not my junior, too.
