

RubyGems: Nerd rage is optional (and discouraged) - telemachos
http://blog.majesticseacreature.com/rubygems-nerd-rage-is-optional-and-discourage

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nikz
Obviously it would be nice not to be rude to people who, after all, are
working on something that benefits you, if you are prepared to call other
people out like this:

<http://rubyhitsquad.com/Ruby_Hit_Squad.html>

Then I believe you should probably have a thicker skin in return.

~~~
sandal
That was a long time ago.

~~~
binspace
He annotated a passive-aggressive annotation on a patch I made and basically
hijacked a presentation I made because the library I presented did not fit his
aesthetics & work style. I don't remember ever acting in an uncivil way toward
him.

If you regularly act like an asshole, expect to get a reputation and to be
treated like one (even unfairly).

Btw, I'm glad you are bringing civility up. For some reason the lack of a
civil vibe (at least from my experience in the Ruby community) really bothers
me.

~~~
Argorak
I want to oppose to the impression that there is a lack of civil vibe within
the ruby community. I work on the Padrino project and most of the
communication with the ruby community, our committers and our users is highly
enjoyable. Jerks can be found everywhere, but they are a minority.

------
jarin
Summary: people who maintain popular projects can sometimes be jerks because
of all of the pressure; it is not an excuse to be a jerk when submitting
tickets and/or patches.

This is why I try to submit patches instead of tickets whenever possible. When
I can't quite wrap my head around the fix when submitting a ticket, I ask if
anyone can point me in the right direction so I can at least try to help fix
it.

~~~
ericb
With few exceptions, I categorically deny the existence of any entitlement to
be a jerk. By entitlement, I specifically mean justifications like "well, I
was under a lot of pressure."

There's always a "reason" one can give for being a jerk.

~~~
sandal
You're absolutely right. And to clarify, my article is not in any way meant to
claim that the way that the RubyGems maintainers are acting is justified.
Instead, I'm just trying to make the point that their experience with end
users is not exactly full of ponies and rainbows, and if you act like a jerk
to a maintainer, you should not expect civility in response.

Users of RubyGems who proactively act rudely to the maintainers in the
expectation that they will be treated rudely are only making things worse. I
think in the very worst case, that the idea that RubyGems is under some sort
of tyrannical rule would seem less incredulous if contributors and users would
at least _try_ being civil first. Those that don't are simply poking at a sore
wound.

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christkv
Just be civil and nice when you have a problem. I think most maintainers
actually don't mind people but when you get a constant barrage of demands for
functionality or people telling you that you suck because your project don't
quite measure up to their standards I can see how people can get to the point
where they lash out. Most open source project are after all a hobby or pastime
for people and it's important to remember that before ragging on someone.

Civility is key in all human interaction.

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danneu
To be fair, the deprecation message spam is a downright failure.

Fortunately, RubyGems reverts to its previous version really easily.

