From: Philip Oakley Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2013 19:46:58 GMT Subject: Re: [PATCH] Documentation/CommunityGuidelines Message-ID: <4F402D814F814EB19B8617BB31B3C473@PhilipOakley> In-Reply-To: <51B771D5.6030809@alum.mit.edu> From: "Michael Haggerty" Sent: Tuesday, June 11, 2013 7:52 PM [...] > > That's a very good point (and a good illustration, too). How do you > like the new second and third sentences below? > > * When reviewing other peoples' code, be tactful and constructive. > Remember that submitting patches for public critique can be very > intimidating I found this to be true. The tone on the list could at times feel un-helpful (to the new person). It is almost as if it is an initiation - those on the list know the protocols, and new folk either arrive like a bull in a china shop, or more likely, timidly push the patch under the door and run away (and variations in between) - some never push out their (drafted) patch. > and when mistakes are found it can be embarrassing. Sometimes it isn't 'mistakes', rather it is simply a lack of sufficient explanation to communicate intent, which may not have been understood by the reviewer/responder. In such cases it can be a frustration to know what was meant in the response, especially if the response is terse. [i.e. I think it would be reasonable to squeeze part of this in here somewhere to guide new contributors about this step] There is separately a need to note the role of the maintainer, who has a more difficult role as gatekeeper who's higher standards in applying the precautionary principle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precautionary_principle can feel like unhelpfulness, or worse if misunderstood. > Do > what you can to make it a positive and pleasant experience for the > submitter. Set high expectations, but do what you can to help the > submitter achieve them. Don't demand changes based only on your > personal preferences. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. > > (As Junio pointed out, the last sentence is not so great and a better > replacement would be welcome.) > >> As my mother would say, "politeness costs nothing" ;-) > > Does your mother program C? We could use her around here :-) I think she programmed in Smalltalk and CleanYourRoom. (sorry not my question ;-) > > Michael > > -- > Michael Haggerty > mhagger@alum.mit.edu > http://softwareswirl.blogspot.com/ regards Philip