
The environment that OSS developers work in - johnmyleswhite
https://github.com/JuliaLang/IJulia.jl/issues/398
======
josinalvo
Just an idea:

first post:Hi, it appears that running Pkg.add("IJulia") is broken. Please fix
it or stop advertising this module...

first response: This is a volunteer effort. We regret to inform you that
reports and issues in the tone of the above complaint are unacepptable. We
cannot (and will not) help you until you ask for help in a polite way.

Status changed: from "open" to "awaiting politeness"

\---

The world contains people who want to act like this @aragnon. It will still
contain those people tomorrow. Complaining about their sense of entitlement is
not likely to achieve much. And we need to spend very little effort with these
requests. We need __procedure __. We need simple rules, and absolute
enforcement.

I don't know that Ijulia is, but I thank you guys for your efforts!

~~~
tzs
If the problem reported is real and affects many users, then I don't see how
refusing to fix it because the person who actually reported it is an ass is
reasonable. You are essentially suggesting that all users who experience the
problem be punished because the one who reported it is a jerk.

~~~
chaz72
No, I like it. The jerk is shut down and not rewarded until he can communicate
like a civilized person. The person who shuts him down can still pick up on
the complaint and get the bug fixed for everyone else - and if not, then any
widespread problem will eventually have at least one polite request entered,
right?

------
Perceptes
Very inflammatory title. This happens occasionally, but I'd hardly call it
"the environment that OSS developers work in." Furthermore, this really has
little to do with OSS or even software development at all. The world is filled
with rude and insensitive people that can't interact with others courteously
and professionally. That is not news nor is it interesting.

~~~
agibsonccc
This is < 1% of our users.We run a gitter channel with > 1000 people in it as
well as around 1700 stars on github. I've seen some things but most people are
polite. This is just cherry picked.

------
Ologn
In 1924, William Faulkner quit his job as a postal worker, saying "I will be
damned if I propose to be at the beck and call of every itinerant scoundrel
who has two cents to invest in a postage stamp". With regards to FLOSS, people
don't even have to invest the two cents. Which highlights the rudeness of some
people - they rudely demand that people who donate their free time to help
people, donate even more of their time to fix a problem.

While this is unfortunate, as Faulkner noted, it's not unique to FLOSS. Anyone
who is in a position where they regularly interact with the public is going to
run into rude people and crazies now and again.

------
msoad
For a collection of this type of issues please see IssuesFromHell

[https://twitter.com/issuesfromhell](https://twitter.com/issuesfromhell)

~~~
giancarlostoro
> No one will play Starcraft with me

[https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=83896](https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=83896)

------
TheGRS
Really surprised they didn't shut down the thread sooner and I'm a little
disappointed the devs didn't get a better "zinger" in there at the end, but
major props to yuyichao for being a class act the whole way through. I don't
think I would have had the patience to continue helping after that tirade.

------
meddlepal
I just wish my project had users.

~~~
tux3
If you're [https://github.com/meddlepal](https://github.com/meddlepal), your
projects sound interesting, but try writing a bit more in your README.md :)

People will start using your projects if they see a use for it, so you "just"
need to make something random internet people want, and then sell it well.

~~~
meddlepal
Hehe. I was just being silly. That is me, but it's not my active account.
These days I work under:
[https://github.com/plombardi89](https://github.com/plombardi89)

That said, thank you for the advice :)

------
striking
I understand that the user had a very inflammatory attitude, but the dev
helping the user actually agreed with his concerns. Yeah, the user wasn't
being nice, but the dev was nice anyway. This happens everywhere, every day,
in real life. It's not just the Internet's veil of anonymity, it's just that
people are mad for reasons often beyond what you can see.

It looks like the user just needed to vent, and the dev seemed to ignore it.
And that's what you should do. Trying to interact meaningfully with an emotion
that doesn't mean anything will not help you. Pointing to community standards
will often only aggravate mad people further. _Either help the person or lock
the issue and leave it at that._

Calling out specific people publicly in HN posts is not a good idea either. If
you must, I suggest anonymizing the content.

------
ryandrake
Welcome to customer support at every organization everywhere. Many people who
are have problems with your project (whether it be a paid or free product) are
jerks about it. Sometimes they are right and sometimes they are wrong, but
it's going to have no effect on their attitude.

------
Mathnerd314
This seems similar in style to a Linus Torvalds rant, e.g.
[http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/1510.3/02866.html](http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/1510.3/02866.html).

Julia is within their rights to enforce a community standard against such
rants, but I wonder if those rants are what inspire people to write code and
contribute (unpaid) patches...

------
jessaustin
I'm _shocked_ to see that user has no commits, ever.

~~~
LeoPanthera
I used to work in QA. I file lots of bugs on github. (Hopefully politely.) But
I've never committed anything - I don't even know how. Does that make my
reports worthless?

~~~
yareally
Of course they're not worthless when you're submitting them in good faith with
due diligence in troubleshooting/replicating steps. I <3 users, whether they
write code or not that submit good bug reports and are willing to work with me
to replicate/fix the issue. One does not need to be a developer to write a
good bug report.

I volunteer a few days every month to triage bug reports at my developer job
just to keep up my troubleshooting skills. I could probably not do this as a
technical/team lead, but everyone on my team does, so I wouldn't make them do
anything I wouldn't do. I like problem solving as well, so it can be fun
trying to hunt down some obscure bug buried in a service that only manifests
itself when the moons align in the customer environment.

Seeing some of the difficult customers our support staff have to pull
information out of I have a ton of respect for those that organize bug reports
in a coherent manner that shows they really care. Those that do, I go out of
my way to help make their jobs easier (building them tools, simple scripting
training, etc) and they pay it back by helping my development team.

------
dethos
"You sir, just lost your spot in the support queue. Please come back another
day, when you're with a better mood. Have a nice day."

