Just me, an ordinary open-source developer, who stumbled into creating a small project, pyvideotrans, and somehow racked up 12.1k stars.

I spend my days toiling away at my day job, then transform into a volunteer coder at night, churning out a free video translation and dubbing tool for everyone.

The download numbers are exciting, but the Issues section is a demand free-for-all: "Can you add an alien language translation?" "Found a major bug!" "This bug could cost users a fortune!" "Why isn't it fixed yet? Is the project even alive?" I stare at the screen, muttering: This is open source, why am I a full-time customer service rep now?

Donations? Don't even mention them. When the project had few stars, I'd occasionally get small donations. Now with 12.1k stars, I might get a 0.x yuan or 0.0x yuan donation every few weeks. I'm afraid WeChat will flag my account for suspicious activity and ban me!

There are always some "pro" users who offer casual reviews: "It's okay, a bit rough around the edges." "Good enough, but not perfect." I almost twist my mousepad into a pretzel – it's a free tool, what more do you want?!

But thinking about it, I chose this open-source path voluntarily, and getting free users is "standard." What can I do?

12.1k stars sounds impressive, but facing a screen full of demands and spaghetti code at 2 AM makes me feel even darker than the night outside.

When I can't take it anymore, I write articles on my public account to earn some ad revenue. A few bucks a day is enough to buy two Nestle 3-in-1 instant coffees to console myself.

I might as well dub myself an "Open Source Coolie" and enjoy the ride. If I can write some code for everyone to play with, I can call my programming career a minor success. As for my thinning hair? No big deal, I shaved it all off already – brighter than the full moon!