Re: The <whatever> developer syndrome

On Thu, Oct 09, 2003 at 01:43:53PM +0200, Tink wrote:
> Sorry Steve, I don't agree with you on this one. I own lots of 
> commercial and shareware software and I have never ever been called 
> names, insulted or humiliated by the their customer service, helpdesk 
> or developers feedback. Whenever I mail them a question or suggestion 
> I always receive a email back with a polite answer like 'thanks for 
> your suggestion we will/will not consider it for our next release'. 
> or at least a message the will look into the problem.

Well there's one major difference: shareware and commercial software have a
direct financial gain from friendly user support. Behind the scenes, you'll
find no more respect for users among those people than there is in open
source. Helping (potential) customers is part of the job description.

Many open source developers simply want to create a working application.
Without financial support, there is a smaller incentive to treat users as an
asset and possible even a painful liability.

> It's not that those social skills do not exist but somehow it's 
> accepted behavior to act like that. Those people wouldn't dream of 
> addressing their mom or girlfriend/wife/partner like that but for 
> faceless users it's okay.

> As for fixing bugs, isn't the developer who developed a piece of 
> software responsible for his/her own code? It probably is not much 
> fun, cleaning up the stuff you made just like when you were a child 
> and your mom made you pick your lego after you played with it. At 
> least with my mom, don't feel like it and it's no fun didn't sit well.

Depends on whether you consider your software something you'd recommend or
whether you just happen to have written and published it. There is no
incentive to please users (as opposed to employers, paying customers or
people you want to have a long-term relationship with).

Some people simply write software to be good enough for themselves and then
lose interest in maintenance. There is no such thing as a selfless act.
There's no obligation to please any user. Money and/or feeling good about
yourself might be sufficient reason, but if you're not looking for either in
application development, you just won't care to be responsive or friendly.

Rob
-- 
Rob Kaper     | "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little
[email protected] | temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
www.capsi.com | - Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759

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