dsill@NSWC-OAS.ARPA (Dave Sill) (11/09/88)
Reid M. Pinchback writes: >... When >users don't get these people to jump up and down at their beck and call, >we begin to see increased net bandwidth consisting of messages containing >snide remarks and personal slights. >... Requests for info are reasonable, >but David [Langdon], don't you think it would make more sense to >sound encouraging instead of sarcastic? ... Let me say right off that I am extremely grateful to those selfless individuals that donate well designed, carefully implemented software to the community. But really Mr. Pinchback, aren't you taking this just a little too seriously? What's wrong with a little sarcastic spice in an otherwise bland request for information? Lighten up! And if you really want to encourage and support the authors of free* code, do what I do: send them money, offer to be a beta tester, offer to write code, or offer to help distribute code. * "free" as in "open, not impeded or restricted" ========= The opinions expressed above are mine. "Computers should work the way beginners expect them to, and one day they will." -- Ted Nelson
bard@THEORY.LCS.MIT.EDU (11/09/88)
Reid M. Pinchback writes: >... When >users don't get these people to jump up and down at their beck and call, >we begin to see increased net bandwidth consisting of messages containing >snide remarks and personal slights. >... Requests for info are reasonable, >but David [Langdon], don't you think it would make more sense to >sound encouraging instead of sarcastic? ... I didn't find the original posting particularly offensive, nor did I find similar posting about my own public domain programs too obnoxious. In general, I was quite happy at the fact that there were people who were so pleased with my work that they couldn't wait for the next release. (For my part, I was also amazed that there were enough people who used DEC Rainbows to care about my pd program. Programmers for more common machines might be more used to it, but I still don't think they'd be insulted.) I would take the inquiry as a complement, and chalk the sarcasm up to the usual difficulties of expressing tone of voice by email. It probably came out sounding much more sarcastic than David Langdon had intended, at least to Reid Pinchback's ear. Just like this is more pedantic and goody-goody than I want it to sound, but I don't feel like changing it. -- Bard the pd software gargoyle
jbayer@ispi.UUCP (id for use with uunet/usenet) (11/09/88)
In article <31995@bbn.COM>, dsill@NSWC-OAS.ARPA (Dave Sill) writes: > Reid M. Pinchback writes: > >... When > >users don't get these people to jump up and down at their beck and call, > >we begin to see increased net bandwidth consisting of messages containing > >snide remarks and personal slights. > >... Requests for info are reasonable, > >but David [Langdon], don't you think it would make more sense to > >sound encouraging instead of sarcastic? ... > > But really Mr. Pinchback, aren't you taking this just a little too > seriously? What's wrong with a little sarcastic spice in an otherwise > bland request for information? Lighten up! And if you really want to > encourage and support the authors of free* code, do what I do: send > them money, offer to be a beta tester, offer to write code, or offer > to help distribute code. Something many people, especially those participating on the net, forget is that the spoken language is very different from the written language. During speech the voice can have different tones and inflections put on the same words to give them totally different meanings. Unfortunatly, the written word loses that. When words are put on paper and/or video screens, the subtle meanings are usually lost. When a little sarcasism is typed in it may sound and mean either nothing, or exactly what the writer had in mind. However, the people who read it will not usually be in the same frame of mind as the writer. Because of this, the readers will interpret the written word in a (possibly) different manner. I do not want this to be taken as a critisism of Mr. Sill, but rather as a warning to all readers of this net. Remember, please, to think on how your writings will be read, and by whom. Jonathan Bayer Intelligent Software Products, Inc.