On 3/17/2013 3:10 PM, David Benfell wrote:
I don't know if the "[original poster] is fully familiar with the open source model" or not, but I would save the rest of this response as a gem. The formulaic response, which I have seen again and again in the over ten years I've been working with open source software, really assumes that all users are programmers--or should be programmers--and are responsible for submitting fixes when something is wrong.
Because what it really says is, if you don't like it, fix it yourself. Too many times, I've heard this referred to as "freedom." And like some other notions of freedom advanced in our society, it is only freedom for a limited class of people.
Imagine this:
You live near a mechanic. He has an extra car that he got from the junk yard and fixed up. It works fairly well and you need a car so he generously gives it to you for free. After a time, something breaks. What do you do?
If you are mechanically inclined you can fix it yourself - that is, if you are part of that limited class of people known as mechanics.
If not, you can go back to the original mechanic or maybe a completely different mechanic. However, if you scream at him, call him names, tell him the car is total garbage that was never fixed right in the first place, then demand he fix it, how do you think he would respond?
It is much better to ask politely.
Everything you say above is perfectly valid. However, I have been part of quite a few open source projects and this list has much more than its share of trolls and flame wars. Why is that? A little civility goes a long way, especially if you are not part of the "limited class of people" and are asking for their help with something that you were given for free to begin with.
Dem