It's a lot like mountain climbing. People do it, although personally I can't really imagine why. Because it's there. Because they can. That's why. It is not rational. Nice words maybe don't hurt, but at that level are certainly irrelevant. Me, I lurk on this list because of the attitude and the honesty. If there's something I really need to know. it's likely to show here and not much of anywhere else. Actually, considering, it's a very friendly place. They do their thing. It is their thing. It is not your thing or my thing. They will get an instant dislike of anything aimed at trying to make them do either your thing or my thing. I do not blame them.
> -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of > steve szmidt > Sent: Saturday, March 25, 2006 8:14 PM > To: misc@openbsd.org > Subject: Re: It's not about the money > > > On Saturday 25 March 2006 17:33, you wrote: > > > Have you ever read [EMAIL PROTECTED] I mean actually read it? The only > > people > > that get slammed are those that deserve it. You're supposed to do your > > own homework - there is no hand holding because hand holding takes > > away time from more productive things, like code. The community as a > > whole spends a great deal of effort clearly documenting everything and > > those that choose to ignore that effort get the brunt of the flames. I > > have never seen, in my four years on this list, anyone getting flamed > > by a developer or well-known community member that didn't absolutely > > deserve it. > > Hmm. The last time money was short I unselfishly offered my time > to help raise > money, because I wanted to help. Help those who had helped me. I > figured it > would be a nice thing for me to do. > > I got ripped so badly in a stream of four letter words I thought > I was back in > boot camp. My kind was not needed and such. Of course it was entirely in > someones mind who I was as it sure as heck was not known. > > Yeah, it was not done on the list. But never the less by what you > call a key > member. Several others have shared their experiences with me. > Maybe because > I've offered a kind word after some public abuse. > > Jim Snyder, and others is dead on, but some people simply don't > see it. It's > invisible to a whole bunch, which is really sad. Personally I had > not heard > such fould language since boot camp. > > Your judgement as to what constitutes "deserve" is not on par > with most others > outside this list. Heck, this list is infamous for toasting people. > > > Blah blah blah, enough with the tired cliches. The problem is exactly > > too many selfish whiners. They want more and more, without having to > > Tired cliche?!? > > He's, like most of us, really grateful for the code, and pay in > kind by buying > a copy every six months. Often times I get new people to buy it too. > > > support the project, and then they want everyone to hold their hand > > through it. "Why doesnt my laptop touchpad work?" "When are you going > > to support Adaptec cards? FreeBSD supports it!" These people have zero > > understanding of OpenBSD or open source in general; and the sad part > > is, they don't even know it. Consider OpenBSD is doing them a favor by > > giving them a harsh reality check. One can only hope it will do them > > some good. > > This is not Jim whining... > > > Vendors do care. They have to care exactly because OpenSSH is the > > world standard. It would cost them far more to develop in house talent > > to maintain and extend the current codebase than it would to simply > > drop a $10K check to the project. > > That has never been questioned. And not related to Jim's comment. > > > Blah blah blah, more tired cliches. The culture here is exactly what > > made the code "beautiful". So kindly, STFU (-: > > There are very few places indeed where people retain customers > after being > verbally abused. It speaks droves of how good your code is. Imagine the > support if your attitude matched your code! > > You are burning bridges left right and center with those who'd be > happy to > contribute, had it not been for the holier than thou attitude. It's > absolutely amazing people donate at all. Imagine if you had > competition that > were nice! Anyone who'd spent any time on the list would go elsewhere. > > It's not like anyone is suggesting you go celebate, or wear weird > clothes or > something. People just like being treated nicely. I'm sure you > would not mind > if someone threw a few nice words your way... > > -- > > Steve Szmidt > > "For evil to triumph all that is needed is for good men to do nothing. > Edmund Burke
