Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Complaining

Author:Dave Winer
Posted:6/30/1999; 6:54:30 AM
Topic:my.userland.com layout problems
Msg #:7974 (In response to 7972)
Prev/Next:7973 / 7975

First, I posted a story about this on Scripting News, so if you didn't read it, well, what else would you like me to do?

Further, this morning my mailbox is full of people complaining. More of the same on the DG. Fredrik, we appreciate what you've done to make XML-RPC possible on Python. I would never think of complaining about the bugs in that code. I wouldn't even expect you to fix them, because I appreciate what you've done.

There is an imbalance here. I like to work with people. I don't like being talked about this way. One person a few days ago called my software stupid, of course using the stupid software to say that. Can you imagine that. What a trip.

Now if you had asked me nicely, why I did what I did, it's because we're rapidly changing the deployment of this software. I'm very reluctant to tell you what the steps are because then someone will point to this message two weeks or months from now and COMPLAIN about that.

There's a false sense of intimacy in online DGs. I don't want people to think of me as part of their family. You are a stranger to me Fredrik. If I passed you on the street I wouldn't know you. It's best to stay professional, and I would appreciate it if you think twice before you complain.

I've asked people to think of themselves as guests here, and behave as they would if they were invited to a party at someone's house. Imagine someone at a party complaining about the food. (Hey I've seen it happen.) After a short bit of that, you wonder why the person stays? Maybe they like to complain.

We all have bad days. But in general there are so many people here, it's inevitable that *someone* is having a bad day. I often am the target for their unhappiness. I don't like it.

Thanks for listening.

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