[OT Humor] "Obviously designed by morons"

[Bill Davidsen]

Joe Zeff wrote:
> On 03/22/2011 09:04 AM, Dr. Michael J. Chudobiak wrote:
>> I mean this as a helpful guide to gaining credibility with devs, rather
>> than as any sort of attack...
>
> That, alas, all depends on the devs and their attitude.  I use the Pan
> newsreader.  The dev is a member of the support mailing list and listens
> to the concerns of the users.  Sometimes it's not practical for him to
> change something, but when that happens, he explains why.  He also makes
> it clear that if you're able to work up a patch that does what you want
> he'll be glad to look at it and fold it in if it doesn't cause other
> problems.  Alas, he's pretty burned out on the project and looking to
> pass the torch.  Compare that to the Gnome devs who avoid the help forum
> for their project like the plague, and the Fedora devs who either don't
> frequent their forum or do so incognito.

Attitude matters. The people who ran the Prodigy (remember Prodigy vs. AOL?) 
help chat still have a help chat room, even though Prodigy is dead a decade. 
Some people enjoy helping troubled users.

Obviously we help with Windows and Linux now, not the Prodigy services.
-- 
Bill Davidsen <davidsen at tmr.com>
   "We have more to fear from the bungling of the incompetent than from
the machinations of the wicked."  - from Slashdot