From: Alessandro Baretta (alex@baretta.com)
Date: Fri May 10 2002 - 20:25:43 EDT
Dom Lachowicz wrote:
>
> Alessandro,
>
> I've read your repeated requests, and I've already
alerted those
> responsible for those sections of code to your problem.
This "just
> works" for me, so I'm unable to reproduce your problem.
I realize this might a problem with the specific
configuration of my machine. The trouble is I do not know
where to put my hands to try and fix it.
> However, please note that no-one is responsible for
responding to any
> email, request, or bug notice. The fact that anyone
responds to any
> requests should be taken with gratitude, especially
because we do
> respond to the overwhelming majority of them in a
positive manner. We
> try to help out where we can, but we can't always help
out, nor do we
> always want to.
I do not take you as responsible for any malfunctioning of
Abiword, especially when it comes to functionality that is
probably rather delicate and depends on external libraries.
Do believe, Mr. Lachowicz, that I take with deep gratitude
and appreciation all efforts to develop and support free
software in general and Abiword in particular. I also ask
you to believe that I have a positive attitude, whereby I
usually try to help users of free software by sharing my
understanding (and sometimes my misunderstandings) with
other users. I do not take time to dive into the code of a
program, but I usually do take what time I can to answer
those questions that are at my level of understanding on the
mailing lists of my favorite free software projects. I would
be glad to lend a hand here, on the Abiword users' list, but
until recently I had no need for a full-featured word
processor--I use emacs most of the time--so I have only a
limited understanding of Abiword. Now, I am called
upon by a friend wishing to use a word processor in Arabic;
for this reason, I have taken interest in Abiword and have
gotten into the habit of reading this mailing list, and
sometimes of sharing my thoughts with the developers as well
as the other users.
> Try not to take things so personally. If you have a
> problem, file a bug in bugzilla that way it's sure to get
our attention
> and will not forgotten. I suggest that you read
> http://www.abisource.com/support/expectations.phtml as it
addresses my
> feelings on this subject quite well (perhaps because I
authored it, in
> part).
I must guarantee you that I read that document, and that I
have mixed feelings about it. Although my experience in the
free world of GNU/Linux systems is relatively short, I have
come to expect more from free software projects than I ever
did from commercial software developers. I have come to
expect an added value that I doubt could ever be found with
commercial products: democracy. Let me add that I am not
offended with you for the answers you gave Mr. Thompson and
myself: neither have I taken personally. I simply wish to
remind the community, and the developers in particular, that
for free software to thrive, we all must maintain as
positive an attitude as we can. This includes responding
tactfully to other peoples requests, even if they might
redundant or banal.
As far as the "bug" concerning the right-to-left feature, I
have never thought about mentioning it on bugzilla, because
I was not and am not convinced that there is a bug in the
Abiword source. I believe there must be a "buggy"
interaction between Abiword and some components of my
distribution, which I will have a hard time identifying
without the help of other users, expert with the
right-to-left feature, or of the developers.
> As for my response to David, I might remind you of the
adage that one
> "catches more flies with honey than with vinegar." His
lack of tact
> (which is phrasing it litely, and I've instead
interpreted it as a
> general beratement of the developer community) was
unacceptable. My
> responses did have merit (and, contrary to your belief,
was not a waste
> of time) because:
>
> 1) It proposed multiple working solutions to his said
"problem"
> 2) It let me get out frustration to his tactless email.
You cannot
> underestimate or overlook the value theraputic responses.
Hmmm... I am no psychotherapist, but I doubt that by flaming
one user, whether justly or not, you will obtain any
significant personal benefit. In my opinion, flaming only
engenders personal antipathy between the parts. It is not in
the interest of the Abiword project or of any other free
software project to stimulate distaste for it in the community.
> The fact that David blamed *us* for his having a hard
time finding
> libgal is a problem that needed addressing, which is
further annoying
> because it was hiding right underneath his nose.
Mr. Thompson expressed his feelings about the "ease of
installation", or rather the lack thereof. It is an explicit
right of the development team to chose whether to address
the "ease of installation" issue or not. The Perl community,
for examply, greatly encourages personal recompilation of
the sources, the motto being, "Use The Source". Therefore,
if one of the foremost free software projects chooses to
provide no binary distributions, you are certainly free to
provide minimal ditributions, which, as you stated, are
guaranteed to work only the machine of the builder. Yet,
your freedom to delegate the responsibility of providing
builds for the community to install and use directly, does
not conflict with Mr. Thompsons liberty to express his
feelings about the Abisource builds' ease of installation or
lack thereof. Let me also state that rpmfind is also partly
responsible for the installation difficulties: I, too, have
had some trouble finding packages needed by Abiword, but a
little patience did solve my problem.
> I do not regret drawing out this discussion, because it
is something
> that needs to be addressed. If it takes more time for
some people to
> understand certain things than others, so be it. If you
don't like it,
> .killfile me or simply ignore this thread. I won't be any
worse off
> because of it and your demeanor may improve substantially.
I am sorry that you take my mailings as a personal crusade
against you, Mr. Lachowicz. I have no intention to killfile
you. As I already mentioned, the main benefit of free
software over commercial software is the intrinsically
democratic nature of the community where the former is
developed and used. Democracy is a societal condition
whereby all members of a group have a right to express their
opinion, with due respect, and have a duty to listen to
others' opinions, again with due respect. Your comment on my
demeanor is certainly in contrast with such requirements of
democracy. I have addressed you and the Abiword community
with a pacifying intent and have obtained a yield of spite.
I am very much disappointed.
Why in the world did you take up such a noble and generous
quest as that to provide the computing community with a free
word processor, if you are unable to carry out a peaceful
and respectful discussion with your users? By distribution
free software on the internet you expose yourself to
communication from millions of different people, each with
his or her set of needs. You definitely seem unprepared to
cope with communication from the casual user with a casual
problem. The page you mentioned having coauthored
(http://www.abisource.com/support/expectations.phtml) makes
it evident that you do not wish to be bugged by the
community. If this is the case, then why do participate in
the discussions on the users' mailing list? You can very
well deal with code only and never know anything about the
users. But, if you chose to act as a maintainer for Abiword,
then implicitly you are responsible for communicating with
your users, as well as for maintaining a moderate tone in
your postings. No one benefits from flames. Now grow up and
learn this.
Alex Baretta
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