I make 2 compromises in my open source software work in order to keep up with all the projects I start and at least do a decent job maintaining some of it:
1. I don't support old stuff. No old operating systems, no old dependencies, no old compilers, etc. The answer to all support requests of the sort is "sorry, I don't have the time or funding to support versions below XYZ."
2. I'm not afraid to roll the major version number of my software. If I make a design mistake, I fix it without regard for backward compatibility, and then I don't support older versions.
These two things really make a big difference in lowering the difficulty of support without compromising the quality of at least the latest version of code. And if the users are using the latest version of everything and need support, great! They probably have such a similar environment to my own that I'll have no problem reproducing their issues.
are you the three.js "maintainer" ?
My code breaks every time I update three.js I would be fine with that if the release notes would point that out directly. It's really a nice library but it would be great if he handled the project a little bit more "enterprisey"
Your frustration is justified. I think it's the responsibility of the maintainer who bumps the major version to include a checklist of things to do to upgrade to the new major version.
1. I don't support old stuff. No old operating systems, no old dependencies, no old compilers, etc. The answer to all support requests of the sort is "sorry, I don't have the time or funding to support versions below XYZ."
2. I'm not afraid to roll the major version number of my software. If I make a design mistake, I fix it without regard for backward compatibility, and then I don't support older versions.
These two things really make a big difference in lowering the difficulty of support without compromising the quality of at least the latest version of code. And if the users are using the latest version of everything and need support, great! They probably have such a similar environment to my own that I'll have no problem reproducing their issues.