[Asterisk-Dev] RFC: Moderating the Asterisk Mailing Lists

[alex at pilosoft.com]

On Fri, 7 Jan 2005, Gregory Junker wrote:

> > There are plenty of people here who possess tact and diplomacy.  You seem to 
> > expect those qualities to be a requirement; they're not.
> 
> They are a requirement for any open-source project to reach its full
> potential. Nothing turns off a newbie to a project faster than a
> smartass or hostile response to what they believe is a valid question.
You know, I sort of like OpenBSD' developers response to that. The 
developers are not writing code for the newbies. Nor for fame. Nor for 
popularity. They are writing code for themselves first, for paying 
customers second, and to help the community last. World domination and/or 
popularity does not enter into it. 

I certainly am not crying if another newbie is turned off Asterisk by tone 
of a developer who was helping them. Newbies are cheap, and there'll be 10 
more tomorrow to replace them. Most likely, that newbie had no business 
trying to use asterisk in the first place, and is better served by 
purchasing a complete solution from a Asterisk-using vendor.

> It all comes down to one simple fact: open-source projects far and away
> are started and "managed" by engineers, who have demonstrated time and
> again throughout history, and continue to do so today, why they are not
> allowed to interact with the user community. Engineers don't like users,
> they really don't. Engineers believe that users just get in the way.
Correct. That applies even to users who pay me money. That applies double 
to users who don't pay me money.

> I can say this because I am an engineer, an electrical and software
> engineer, but I have the unique ability among my kind to see the
> software system from a usability viewpoint, which many engineers simply
> do not realize exists. Asterisk is a HORRIBLY designed project from a
> usability standpoint. Asterisk is an FANTASTICALLY designed project from
> a technical standpoint.
Because Asterisk is not a product. Asterisk is a toolkit. Want usability? 
Buy a product.

> Remember, Windows is not as dominant as it is because it's technically
> superior (it is and it isn't). It's dominant because it is EASY TO USE.
There are more cockroaches than humans. Your point? ;)

> So if you want the project to remain within the community of technical
> users only, by all means continue to berate the new users for asking
> basic questions.
Frankly, that sounds fine by me. 

Note: I represent only myself, and certainly aren't speaking for Digium or 
any other Asterisk developer.

-alex