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Subject: Re: Apology, and a period of break.

Re: Apology, and a period of break.

From: Tomer Shalev <shalev.tomer_at_gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 20 Jun 2009 18:06:44 +0300

> It's becoming somewhat clear to me that I'm not able to relate with normal
> people in a reasonable way. I lack the basic understanding of how people
> will read "tone" in things I type, where for me they're written word and
> should be read based on the specific meanings rather than anything implied.
> The latter method seems to depend too much on the emotions and even specific
> mood a time of reading of the user.
>

Paul, you contribution to Rockbox is undeniable, and I think most people
appreciate it very much. It will be pity if you resign from your duties and
contribute less than you would have done otherwise.

My impression from you was that you are indeed an arrogant person, which
lacks basic human skills. Thank you for clarifying yourself in this honest
letter. I don't think you are arrogant anymore, but I have confirmed you
lack human skills :-)

I think that you deserve a positive feedback from others in this community.
We all now how much time and energy you invested on Rockbox, in the purpose
of making the Rockbox resources (forums, flyspray, etc.) more organised and
consistent. I thing deserve at least that amount of energy to be put on
keeping you an active Rockbox contributor. There's no reason to think
otherwise.

I would like to give you a feedback myself, something that I wanted a long
time ago, but didn't, since I thought it is pointless, wrongly thinking of
you as an arrogant person who is not open for feedback.

Many times you responded newbie's questions: "Support question belong to
XXX", "Bug reports belong to XXX" etc, closing the issue.
I would suggest a more friendly approach: You should provide a short and
simple answer, and following it, write "If you would like further
assistance, please open a new support issue for this question in XXX, as
this is not the right place to ask."
You can even open that issue yourself, refering to the original post.

When a user asks an RTFM question, don't tell them "It is in the manual, why
did you post this question when you obviously agreed to the forum rules
which mention that you have to read the manual before you ask question" etc.

A more human friendly approach would be to quote the relevant text from the
manual (yes, it takes more time to do), which should answer one's question,
and afterwards mention: This text is taken from the XYZ manual, page 123,
which is available in the manuals page: http:/bla_blah. In the future please
try to find your answer in the manual before asking here, as it consumes
people time. Please take in mind that people in the Rockbox community are
volunteers, spending their free time supporting other Rockbox users without
being paid. Asking questions which are in the manual prevent them from
working on other issues.". People would understand that, and appreciate you
for providing them with an answer, despite the fact that you could just
point them to the manual. People do appreciate order, and would understand
when their 'support issue' is blocked due to not reading the manual before,
or asking in the wrong place, but they do expect to be given a quick and to
the point answer, if there is such, which would save them a lot of time
getting to know Rockbox or reading tons of manual pages. If the answer is
short, they know someone has it and can write it down for them in 10
seconds, in contrast for them wasting an hour. They'll appreciate it! They
also expect to be gived a link rather than being given an 'it's in the
manual' response.

When a user is arrogant and expecting Rockbox volunteers to work for him,
answering his questions or fixing his bugs, as if he pays them, there is no
reason to start an argue with him, adding fuel to the fire. One can just
ignore, or block the thread. It is wrong to answer "we will gladly give you
back the money you paid Rockbox". This is indeed the correct answer, but it
is not the smartest. We are here to make as many people as possible like and
use Rockbox.

The most important thing IMHO, is that people hate when one tries to prove
things to them. People don't care who started the argue, or why they are
wrong, or how they are mistaken. You can just tell your opinion, and let
them do the math themselves. No need to have the last word.

Paul, it would be best if you keep doing your great work. People in the
community can be more aware of this issue, and provide you with an immediate
feedback once you do something that is considered offensive, which you are
not aware of. You deserve it.

Regards,
Tomer
Received on 2009-06-20

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