Re: Is Emacs very alive, active and improving?

[Emanuel Berg]

Drew Adams <drew.adams@oracle.com> writes:

>> You always tell me I should report all problems as bugs.
>
> No, I do *not* tell you or anyone else that.

You have told me that at least three times.

> Use your *judgment*.  If *you* think something is not as it
> could be & should be in Emacs, then *you* can think about
> whether or not *you* might want to make an enhancement request
> or report a bug.  That's the point.

Yes, the concept of reporting bugs is not that radical.

> Good for you.  You are a big boy now; it's clear.

And you are dismissive and negative.

> But I am not trying to help only you, Emanuel.  I have found
> that reminding readers of this list of the possibility of
> reporting to Emacs Dev can be helpful - for Emacs and for Emacs
> users generally.

I think it is much better if you work actively with them to solve
the problem, than to encourage them to just report it. OK, say
that you report a bug. What's next? Do you wait for a new version
of Emacs, in which the bug is fixed? Do you aptitude new
libraries? What do you do?

> IOW, for me it is not just about getting you an answer to your
> little problem.

Again, you are dismissive and disrespectful to other people's
efforts.

> I don't need to read or reply to your emails at all.

Right, and *you* are in my KILL file. I decided not to take part
in any more flame wars after my computer broke. Meta discussion is
not productive in almost all of the cases, including this one. I'm
not saying anything more than this message, and thanks to Gnus I
won't see any more or your messages - but hey, don't let that stop
you, you can still solve my "little problems", all to the benefit
of everyone else still taking part of your bitterness.

> I reply to messages when I think what I have to say might help
> someone.  It's not about you.

Wrong. It is about me. I have *one life* and I'm not letting you
waste another minute of it.

> Now, because Emacs is a self-documenting editor, you can also
> *just ask Emacs*.  That's the point in pointing people to the
> doc instead of just providing an answer: learn to fish.  Emacs
> is a fertile fishing ground.

That point is moronic. The point of communication is that is is
enjoyable and productive. It is a way to be active, it is a way to
think, to live. If you don't appreciate that, why are you here?
Are you here to be dismissive of people's efforts, and to bark at
them they should read the manual? Is this a role you think is
honorable? And why do you always assume that answering is of more
value than asking? I don't see you in a position to learn me
anything apart from babbling variables and quoting the sacred
scrolls. For that, I agree, I prefer the manual!

> My recommendation - for anyone - is to ask Emacs first (e.g.,
> check doc and source code).  Ask `help-gnu-emacs', or stack
> overflow, or whatever else only after asking Emacs itself.

Yes, you are an asocial, non-communicative computer geek. Well,
I'm not, and I will not be.

> In the long run, doing that will be the most helpful, IMHO.
> Emacs knows more and usually explains better, when it comes to
> questions about Emacs.

Why is there this newsgroup? Why are you here? Why aren't we all
just alone, quiet, with Emacs, and the Emacs manual?

> (Yes, asking Emacs can be harder for someone for whom English is
> not so easy.  And yes, anyone is free to ignore my advice and
> ask a help list first - no problem.)

See you when you get there, Drew.

-- 
Emanuel Berg - programmer (hire me! CV below)
computer projects: http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573
internet activity: http://home.student.uu.se/embe8573