--- title: "Discussion on \"How One Guy Ruined #Hacktoberfest2020 #Drama\" | Hashnode" description: "Discussion on \"How One Guy Ruined #Hacktoberfest2020 #Drama\". Hacktoberfest\nIf you aren't familar, Hacktoberfest is an annual event that occurs every October. It is held by Digital Ocean and encourages developers to submit Pull Requests to Open Source repositories and as a reward you get a T-Shirt.\nThere's almo..." url: "https://hashnode.com/posts/how-one-guy-ruined-hacktoberfest2020-drama/5f767f3837eb052c1b80e137" --- [Feed](https://hashnode.com/feed) / Discussion # [How One Guy Ruined #Hacktoberfest2020 #Drama](https://joel.net/how-one-guy-ruined-hacktoberfest2020-drama?utm_source=hashnode&utm_medium=feed) Hacktoberfest If you aren't familar, Hacktoberfest is an annual event that occurs every October. It is held by Digital Ocean and encourages developers to submit Pull Requests to Open Source repositories and as a reward you get a T-Shirt. There's almo... Oct 2, 2020 · 4 min read · joel.net Updated Oct 24, 2020 Read the article - [#programming](https://hashnode.com/tag/programming) ## Written by [Joel Thoms](https://hashnode.com/@joelnet) @joelnet [View profile](https://hashnode.com/@joelnet) Computer Scientist ## Responses 16 Markdown supported · ⌘↵ to post [th3r00t](https://hashnode.com/@raelonmasters) [Nov 13, 2020](https://hashnode.com/posts/how-one-guy-ruined-hacktoberfest2020-drama/5f767f3837eb052c1b80e137/comment/5fae04d28f0a026553479589) Its so much easier then all that... Create your own repo, and make 5 pull requests, then accept said requests. Youve got a free shirt, and didnt bother anyones repos. [Vatsal N](https://hashnode.com/@VatsalJS) [Oct 19, 2020](https://hashnode.com/posts/how-one-guy-ruined-hacktoberfest2020-drama/5f767f3837eb052c1b80e137/comment/5f8d559983db9130bf5bcca2) This is **not TRUE,** if you went on to watch the complete video _(not available now)_, you would actually realize that he did not want people to spoil the open-source rather he wanted people to join and make **_Quality_** pull requests. He wanted to keep the video short and informative and hence he made such a P.R. _(he also asks people to not to make **FAKE** P.R. and requests them to deliver quality content)_. It depends on the viewers whether they deliver right content or not. To be honest, I am 13 y/o and I did not know anything about Hacktoberfest. It was Harry's useful video which helped me to know about Hacktoberfest. I greatly thank [Harry](https://www.youtube.com/c/ProgrammingWithHarry) for the same. After knowing what Hacktoberfest is, I submitted 6 Pull Requests _(not FAKE)_ ![hacktoberfest.png](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1603097994105/VaD9lONSX.png) [Anupama Dissanayake](https://hashnode.com/@hash629) [Oct 8, 2020](https://hashnode.com/posts/how-one-guy-ruined-hacktoberfest2020-drama/5f767f3837eb052c1b80e137/comment/5f7eb6bf0e5d207780d94dab) this is some sort of a social engineering attack or something. I guess we should name this kind of attack "Expelliamus" since harry is the founder of it. [No](https://hashnode.com/@no466) [Oct 4, 2020](https://hashnode.com/posts/how-one-guy-ruined-hacktoberfest2020-drama/5f767f3837eb052c1b80e137/comment/5f7a5f757d160d41227d8b16) Majority of this spam has its roots in the land of the „highly skilled“😂 [Peter Thaleikis](https://hashnode.com/@spekulatius) [Oct 4, 2020](https://hashnode.com/posts/how-one-guy-ruined-hacktoberfest2020-drama/5f767f3837eb052c1b80e137/comment/5f797d1b9c3b6e4101216ffb) Really sad to see a well-intended program used to gain cheap advantages. A simple rule such as "resolving an GitHub-logged issue that existed prior to start of Hacktoberfest" would could help to address it. [Mohammed Ali Zubair](https://hashnode.com/@alig1493) [Oct 3, 2020](https://hashnode.com/posts/how-one-guy-ruined-hacktoberfest2020-drama/5f767f3837eb052c1b80e137/comment/5f7893339c3b6e4101216904) People saying it's not his fault, his viewers are stupid. Here's an idea, why not apply your logic to the 2016 american election. "It's not trump's fault he won, stupid people voted for him. It's THEIR fault" Yeah, the fact that he was able to garner an audience large enough to end up in that position is not to be blamed at all. Suuuuure. [Sean Ramey](https://hashnode.com/@sramey) [May 1, 2021](https://hashnode.com/posts/how-one-guy-ruined-hacktoberfest2020-drama/5f767f3837eb052c1b80e137/comment/5f7893339c3b6e4101216904#reply-608d795adc886b4318005711) Little late response, but, yeah it IS the American People's "fault". They voted him in. They DO have a choice. The fact that his audience was that big was because people supported what he was saying. And for the record, everybody that voted for him still absolutely support him. [Charles Brown](https://hashnode.com/@chasbrown) [Oct 3, 2020](https://hashnode.com/posts/how-one-guy-ruined-hacktoberfest2020-drama/5f767f3837eb052c1b80e137/comment/5f785f7f7d160d41227d75e8) Next time take away the free crap and just have people do it to do it the shirt is something that you just happen to give to the winner, maybe. [Peos](https://hashnode.com/@Peos) [Oct 2, 2020](https://hashnode.com/posts/how-one-guy-ruined-hacktoberfest2020-drama/5f767f3837eb052c1b80e137/comment/5f77b2ba7d160d41227d7037) Moral of the story: some people are immoral, yet we are forced to treat everyone equally. I don't blame digital ocean or any other around them for that. The self called "progressives" have low to zero perception of reality and they should be treated like every low IQ individual. It's OK, you did the best you can do. [Abhay Koradiya](https://hashnode.com/@abkoradiya) [Oct 2, 2020](https://hashnode.com/posts/how-one-guy-ruined-hacktoberfest2020-drama/5f767f3837eb052c1b80e137/comment/5f774f1d7d160d41227d6cab) only one fault he was made, He need to show a git links which is provided by #hecktoberfest on that site for making PR. [Skay](https://hashnode.com/@skay) [Oct 2, 2020](https://hashnode.com/posts/how-one-guy-ruined-hacktoberfest2020-drama/5f767f3837eb052c1b80e137/comment/5f774b329c3b6e4101215e00) Thanks for sharing... Good to know how things spiraled out of control! I generally stay out of controversial topics, but, even I had to say something about what's going on!! [twitter.com/hashnode/status/1311766563112927233](https://twitter.com/hashnode/status/1311766563112927233?s=20) Having said that, to organize anything at a scale is a challenge, and 'Moderation' a key element in anything that's public and I hope this feedback can be taken up by the organizers and they can respond in a manner that's truly encouraging and keep the spammers at bay!! Once again, thanks for sharing the post! [Skay](https://hashnode.com/@skay) [Oct 2, 2020](https://hashnode.com/posts/how-one-guy-ruined-hacktoberfest2020-drama/5f767f3837eb052c1b80e137/comment/5f774b0d7d160d41227d6c59) Thanks for sharing... Good to know how things spiraled out of control! I generally stay out of controversial topics, but, even I had to say something about what's going on!! [twitter.com/hashnode/status/1311766563112927233](https://twitter.com/hashnode/status/1311766563112927233?s=20) Having said that, to organize anything at a scale is a challenge, and 'Moderation' a key element in anything that's public and I hope this feedback can be taken up by the organizers and they can respond in a manner that's truly encouraging and keep the spammers at bay!! Once again, thanks for sharing the post! [Ankit Suda](https://hashnode.com/@ankitsuda) [Oct 2, 2020](https://hashnode.com/posts/how-one-guy-ruined-hacktoberfest2020-drama/5f767f3837eb052c1b80e137/comment/5f7731459c3b6e4101215cab) I don't think this is Harry's fault, JUST PEOPLE ARE STUPID 😐 [Sreekanth](https://hashnode.com/@sreekanth850) [Oct 2, 2020](https://hashnode.com/posts/how-one-guy-ruined-hacktoberfest2020-drama/5f767f3837eb052c1b80e137/comment/5f7731459c3b6e4101215cab#reply-5f7773dd9c3b6e4101215fa9) Guiding stupid people to do the crime is more criminal than those stupid guys. [Peos](https://hashnode.com/@Peos) [Oct 2, 2020](https://hashnode.com/posts/how-one-guy-ruined-hacktoberfest2020-drama/5f767f3837eb052c1b80e137/comment/5f7731459c3b6e4101215cab#reply-5f77b31b9c3b6e41012161a0) some stupid people tend to be named harry, though. he actually bribed a bunch of third worlders to raid github. [Vikram Sharma](https://hashnode.com/@vicks711) [Oct 8, 2020](https://hashnode.com/posts/how-one-guy-ruined-hacktoberfest2020-drama/5f767f3837eb052c1b80e137/comment/5f7731459c3b6e4101215cab#reply-5f7f294caddab004867df3ad) [Peos](https://hashnode.com/@Peos) And you my dear sir are a racist. [Ilango Rajagopal](https://hashnode.com/@i4o) [Oct 2, 2020](https://hashnode.com/posts/how-one-guy-ruined-hacktoberfest2020-drama/5f767f3837eb052c1b80e137/comment/5f7707789c3b6e4101215a72) IMO, Harry is not at fault. There were spam PRs last year too. DO is putting the blame on him. [Sreekanth](https://hashnode.com/@sreekanth850) [Oct 2, 2020](https://hashnode.com/posts/how-one-guy-ruined-hacktoberfest2020-drama/5f767f3837eb052c1b80e137/comment/5f7707789c3b6e4101215a72#reply-5f77742a9c3b6e4101215fae) First Getting a T Shirt in hactoberfest is something that given of motivation for OSS. You don't need to guide young followers to get a T Shirt Free. So he essentially made them to do a gaming or cracking a system which was intentionally for a good purpose. [Emily Boston](https://hashnode.com/@emilyboston) [Oct 2, 2020](https://hashnode.com/posts/how-one-guy-ruined-hacktoberfest2020-drama/5f767f3837eb052c1b80e137/comment/5f76f89a9c3b6e4101215932) Hacktoberfest is a bane to the OSS community. Github is full with spam now. [Joel Thoms](https://hashnode.com/@joelnet) [Oct 2, 2020](https://hashnode.com/posts/how-one-guy-ruined-hacktoberfest2020-drama/5f767f3837eb052c1b80e137/comment/5f76f89a9c3b6e4101215932#reply-5f77640f9c3b6e4101215ede) I'm hopeful that next year will be better. I have seen the "opt in" idea thrown around. I would be for that. [Peos](https://hashnode.com/@Peos) [Oct 2, 2020](https://hashnode.com/posts/how-one-guy-ruined-hacktoberfest2020-drama/5f767f3837eb052c1b80e137/comment/5f76f89a9c3b6e4101215932#reply-5f77b3777d160d41227d7041) github is like facebook but for soy consumers even before ms jumped in. ...or in other words, github was already a designated street. [Margaret Goldman](https://hashnode.com/@margaret500) [Oct 2, 2020](https://hashnode.com/posts/how-one-guy-ruined-hacktoberfest2020-drama/5f767f3837eb052c1b80e137/comment/5f76f00f7d160d41227d6676) Hey Joel, you should tag the article with ”general programming” to appear on Hashnode feeds. [Joel Thoms](https://hashnode.com/@joelnet) [Oct 2, 2020](https://hashnode.com/posts/how-one-guy-ruined-hacktoberfest2020-drama/5f767f3837eb052c1b80e137/comment/5f76f00f7d160d41227d6676#reply-5f76f4607d160d41227d66f4) Done. Cheers 🍻 [Prafull Gururani](https://hashnode.com/@Praguru14) [Oct 2, 2020](https://hashnode.com/posts/how-one-guy-ruined-hacktoberfest2020-drama/5f767f3837eb052c1b80e137/comment/5f76edeb9c3b6e4101215879) I dont think Harry is at fault, He clearly said to his viewers to not pull fake PRs . He politely asked them to contribute legitimately. All he showed was an example of how to do a Pull request (that too on a not maintained project, He himself refrained from doing PR on a live project). You clearly misunderstood him and I dont blame you for that because of the Language issue. In the near future do consult someone who is a native speaker or knows the language [Igor Velky](https://hashnode.com/@JimmiJibJob) [Oct 2, 2020](https://hashnode.com/posts/how-one-guy-ruined-hacktoberfest2020-drama/5f767f3837eb052c1b80e137/comment/5f76edeb9c3b6e4101215879#reply-5f7731ad9c3b6e4101215cb4) [7773qx \*nix](https://hashnode.com/@yep) Whole point of free T-Shirt event is to promote contributions to open source projects. Scroll to top and you can read clearly: " It is held by Digital Ocean and encourages developers to submit Pull Requests to Open Source repositories and as a reward you get a T-Shirt. There's almost no limits, so if your request is merged into any Open Source repository, you qualify. Amazing. " So by definitions both of you two provided is Digital Ocean responsible for this, by your flawed logic. Because both Digital Ocean and youtuber wanted to promote contributions to open source projects. Both succeded. If you want to blame youtuber, you have to blame Digitalocean too. They did same thing. [Joel Thoms](https://hashnode.com/@joelnet) [Oct 2, 2020](https://hashnode.com/posts/how-one-guy-ruined-hacktoberfest2020-drama/5f767f3837eb052c1b80e137/comment/5f76edeb9c3b6e4101215879#reply-5f7763499c3b6e4101215ecf) Digital Ocean is also being blamed [Mohammed Ali Zubair](https://hashnode.com/@alig1493) [Oct 3, 2020](https://hashnode.com/posts/how-one-guy-ruined-hacktoberfest2020-drama/5f767f3837eb052c1b80e137/comment/5f76edeb9c3b6e4101215879#reply-5f7891ea9c3b6e41012168fd) you can say what you want but if you deny the cause and effect, and especially the intent of the original video then you're as much part of the problem as he is. Would have been better had you not said anything because the writer of this article is trying his best not shame him more than required. Having said that however I'm not gonna sit by and let you drag this BS any more than necessary. P.S: if his video really was for a good cause for all intents and purposes he would not have made it inaccessible (which is currently the case.) [Victoria Tomzik](https://hashnode.com/@victoriatomzik) [Oct 2, 2020](https://hashnode.com/posts/how-one-guy-ruined-hacktoberfest2020-drama/5f767f3837eb052c1b80e137/comment/5f76e4609c3b6e41012157ab) I don't think it's Harry's fault that people are stupid. He has nothing to apologize for. [Victoria Tomzik](https://hashnode.com/@victoriatomzik) [Oct 2, 2020](https://hashnode.com/posts/how-one-guy-ruined-hacktoberfest2020-drama/5f767f3837eb052c1b80e137/comment/5f76e4609c3b6e41012157ab#reply-5f77213e9c3b6e4101215c09) [Axv](https://hashnode.com/@Axv42) Well, that changes a little - not the fact that people are stupid, tho. [Joel Thoms](https://hashnode.com/@joelnet) [Oct 2, 2020](https://hashnode.com/posts/how-one-guy-ruined-hacktoberfest2020-drama/5f767f3837eb052c1b80e137/comment/5f76e4609c3b6e41012157ab#reply-5f77645e7d160d41227d6d65) He did make a video titled "get a free t-shirt" and then demod the exact PR thousands have copied. He's not blame free. [Peos](https://hashnode.com/@Peos) [Oct 2, 2020](https://hashnode.com/posts/how-one-guy-ruined-hacktoberfest2020-drama/5f767f3837eb052c1b80e137/comment/5f76e4609c3b6e41012157ab#reply-5f77b40c7d160d41227d7045) so, if I have a few thousand t-shirts on my hands, I could order a raid somewhere in exchange of some t-shirts and not be accountable of the consequences? instigator is the word you are looking for.