I'm coming to the conclusion that this is the wrong attitude about FOSS. The "model" is: make it possible for people to obtain the product with as little friction as possible. That serves the platforms hosting the product, but how does that serve me as the Maker? I want feedback, I want community (they're not the same the former is users the latter is other Makers).

"But the users will suffer frustration and anxiety and leave if there's friction..." Oh yeah? I think they must suffer some friction and anxiety anyway, since they're not participating. What are they doing? Abandoning their search for something which solves a problem or answers a difficult question, to doom scroll on social media? See that doesn't make sense.

As with Stack Overflow, AI is simply revealing the underlying flaw. We still need something to replace it. We need a better mental model.