So long, and thanks for all the fish

Discussion in 'Staff Goodbyes' started by TnT, Aug 21, 2014.

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    TnT

    With a heavy heart, I must say goodbye to Bukkit. Bukkit has been a huge part of my life for the past 3 and a half years, and one chapter I am sad to close. My start with Bukkit was as a regular community member seeking out a server mod to use to replace hMod, so I could run my own small private server (I think all I wanted was Teleportation at the time, which hMod allowed). This evolved into writing tutorials on running a CraftBukkit server (as there were very few at the time), and spending countless hours in Bukkit Help spreading my knowledge to those Server Admins who needed support getting their server running, or diagnosing their problems. Bukkit Help became my personal stomping ground as I became intimately aware of all changes going on with CraftBukkit from a Server Admin point of view. Those interactions led me to want to take a more active role in assisting the community, eventually leading up to being approached by EvilSeph to take on a moderator role.

    Fast forward a year, and I can proudly call all the Bukkit Staff, including EvilSeph, friends. When Mojang hired the original team, the question was posed about who should be project lead should EvilSeph step down, as a succession plan is very important to sustaining any project, Bukkit included. The question was put to a vote, and my name was presented as the candidate of choice. I’ll admit, this completely blew me away, but I was honored to be chosen. Luckily, EvilSeph continued to remain on as the primary lead of the project, while I proceeded to handle the day to day tasks. Bukkit Help matured along with the project, requiring less personal attention, so I branched out into every aspect of Bukkit, with the exception of handling any development (I think I made a javadoc update once though). I am proud to say I had a hand in creating the PR Handling process, managing BukkitDev, managing forum staff and making sure I was available in every aspect of the project - from helping to write our announcements, to bringing on new staff members when needed and so much more.

    What is often misunderstood about Bukkit was how the organization was ran. There has never been a decision made that was not made via a committee. There has always been a group consensus on all aspects - from handling BukkitDev approvals to forum rules and finally, yes, shutting down the project. This was truly a community run project. The core team was all formed from the existing community. The forum staff was all made up of community members. BukkitDev approvals were all handled by community members. Volunteers ran the project in every aspect, and as a team, we decided how to best proceed with decisions. As for Mojang’s involvement, not once in my time as a Bukkit Administrator did I hear from Mojang, or felt I could reach out to them for assistance when required and it came as a complete surprise that Mojang was willing to step up and help out. In the over two years that Mojang has claimed to own Bukkit, the original core developers hired by Mojang and Mojang itself was not present when we needed them most with the exception of EvilSeph himself continuing to pour countless hours into the project, at risk to his own personal health. Perhaps Bukkit wouldn’t have been shut down, or had such a difficult time maintaining the project had we known we could work closer with Mojang, as well as avoiding this whole EULA confusion.

    The decision to keep the acquisition of the Bukkit codebase a secret was made between Mojang and Curse, which only recently came to light. I was completely unaware that I had spent the last two years of my life as a Bukkit Administrator, and successor to the project lead, under the illusion that the project was independently ran. Had I known back then perhaps my choice would have been different, perhaps not. It’s easy to speculate on what might have been, but unless faced head on with the choice, the decision is not always clear.

    What I do know is the recent events has not changed the inevitable decision I have came to today, and its one that has been long coming. I am now the proud father of a beautiful 4 month old baby girl, who lights up my life, while also consuming my free time. I no longer have the countless evenings and weekends available to spend working on new processes, smoothing out issues, and responding to forum posts. I hung on this long only because I couldn’t leave knowing the project was hurting for volunteers, and I couldn’t just walk away given the current state. Bukkit has grown to be an extremely large project, and is incredibly time consuming to manage. I felt that I was abandoning the community of which I have grown so fond, as well as EvilSeph himself. I could not come to make that decision, it didn’t feel right.

    Now that Mojang has assumed control of all aspects of Bukkit, that gut wrenching decision is more palatable. Not because I harbor any ill will toward Mojang or the Bukkit community, but because I know Mojang has the resources available to really improve Bukkit. They can work with Curse to ensure BukkitDev has adequate staffing to handle the rigorous approval process - which has an incredible track record for keeping the community safe from those less savory elements of human nature. They can help when we have bugs that should be fixed in Minecraft itself. They can ensure whatever community contributions added to Bukkit can be taken into the Minecraft codebase itself. Now, more than ever, our community can actively contribute to Minecraft in a very real, direct way. You should submit your PR’s now, your code may very well contribute to the base game itself, an aspect which makes me want to dust off my 13 year old Java books and start developing again. In any event, should Mojang want any help in transitioning over the project to their control, I will gladly provide assistance where I can.

    I would personally like to thank all the volunteers who have contributed to Bukkit over the years. Our forum moderators have done wonders keeping this a welcoming, warm community. Our developers who repeatedly spend hours updating Minecraft, adding API and improving the codebase. Our many other unsung volunteers handling aspects from PR handling, to advice. Last but definitely not least, our BukkitDev staff who have spent countless hours keeping the community safe, as one of the most thankless tasks we have.

    I am extremely excited to see what Mojang can do with their vast resources to help the very community where some of its most prominent developers had their roots. This is exciting news for the Minecraft community in general, and perhaps when my daughter is old enough to play, I will meet up with you again on one of your fantastic servers, enjoying the features of one of your cool plugins. For now though, my family and my daughter comes first for my attention, as well as my heart.
     
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    LordVakar

    Thank you for what you have done to this community.
     
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    chaseoes

    Thank you for your contributions to the project. :)
     
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    Deleted user

    Thanks, TnT. I didn't know you that well, but you will be missed. <3
     
    intrepidus, antares330, 4Ply and 5 others like this.
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    Bionicrm

    Thank you, we'll miss you :) <3
     
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    mbaxter ʇıʞʞnq ɐ sɐɥ ı

    Thank you so very much for all of your contributions, TnT. It has been a pleasure working with you.
     
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    Tomographix

    Thanks TnT! Enjoy the time with your family.
     
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    Dippoakabob

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    jflory7

    TnT, on behalf of the entire Minecraft community, thank you for all of your contributions that you have made over the past three years. Thank you.
     
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    Kainzo

    Have a good one TnT
     
  11. WE ALL <3 YOU!!!
    Enjoy your newfound freedom.
    Babies only stay babies for so long.
    I'm glad you won't have to miss that.
     
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    Gamecube762

    I'm am not very good with goodbyes, but thank you for all of your hard work and dedication to Bukkit. I hope the rest of your life and your family's will be filled with nothing but joy and happiness.

    You were a major part of the community, and its hard to see 2 major roles leaving.

    The question for the rest of us is what's going to happen next.
     
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    Archarin

    Well shit.

    <3
     
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    yoitsjimby

    thanks for your work every thing good ends :[
     
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    stormboy231

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    Halosins18

    You will Be missed :) Thank you Tnt For what you have done with the Bukkit Community
     
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    DSH105

    Thank you so much for everything you've done for this project, TnT :). We'll miss you <3
     
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    Sage905

    Thanks for your dedication to the project. Were I in your shoes, I would likely make the same decision. Family above all else. My boys are 9 and 5 now, and enjoy playing Minecraft, so I have some time again for these things, but it's amazing how time consuming server admin and plugin development can be, especially for someone who feels responsibility for something, as you clearly did.

    Enjoy your daughters childhood. As I'm sure you've heard from others, it will all be over too quickly.

    Cheers,
    Sage
     
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    kill_da_trolls

    GG, the team is falling apart right in front of our eyes.

    Goodbye TnT, you helped me a lot on the forum and during the approval process of my plugin.
     
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    Ultimate_n00b

    It's not as if I knew you well, however I applaud what you've done here at Bukkit. Have fun raising your daughter. :)
     
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    StealthBravo

    TnT, I've never really spoken to you personally, but I've always admired your work ethic and dedication towards the Bukkit project. What you've done for the community as a whole cannot be matched by many, and you've really helped shape the Bukkit project into the insanely successful server mod that it is today.

    Best of luck with everything that you do in the future, and have fun with your daughter :). Hopefully we'll see you around once in a while.
     
    antares330, Hoolean, Archarin and 4 others like this.
  22. Why do you guys have to make me cry so much today :(

    Anyways, thank you, TnT, for all of your contributions to the Bukkit project. I know I, as well as every member on these forums, will miss your presence. With your newfound freedom, you can spend more time with your family. Never take that time for granted, as it flies by faster than you can imagine. I still remember my preschool days and have memories of some events prior to that and here I am now, sitting in my college dorm getting ready for my freshman year. While you sit back and cherish the time you'll spend with your family we'll still be here in a place you helped create, cherishing every moment we've spent with you. From the bottom of my heart, I wish you the best of luck in the future :)

    Now, excuse me while I go cry in the corner again :(
     
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    jacklin213

    TnT I'm gonna miss ya, thanks for all the hard work. Been a big fan since back in the days u wore a green banner :) wish u the best with your family. Hope ta see u back in the future

    For the last time, I'm gonna tag ya :'( TnT we love ya
     
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    bastion

    I can honestly say, bukkit will not be the same with out you and evilseph.
     
    antares330, Archarin, TnT and 3 others like this.
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    squidicuz

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    Jade

    Bye mate, best of luck on your future endeavors.
     
    -_Husky_-, Archarin, TnT and 2 others like this.
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    FrostedSnowman

    Goodbye everyone! See around. Nice working with you all.
     
    Archarin, TnT and Garris0n like this.
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    crushh87

    TnT, even though I was an asshole (sorry) to you and your team at times. I would like to thank you guys for inspiring a passion that I now have for computer science. Without this project, I would probably not be applying to colleges in hopes of pursing a degree in computer science. And for that, I thank you.

    Peace.
    (Sorry for being an ass)
     
    rtainc, antares330, grid21 and 3 others like this.
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    HyrulesLegend

    Thank you TnT, for everything you've done. Bukkit will not be the same without you guys. Goodbye.
    I send you off with my "signature", totally not poisonous cake. [cake]

    ~[tnt]~
     
    Doge, justcool393, Archarin and 2 others like this.
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