Rockbox "Experts" are jerks

[junkers]

I totally agree. We all know that the average user is pretty casual about things and that can be very annoying. But no amount of annoyance can justify the outright rudeness that the moderators here are dishing out liberally. Bottom line is that we all want Rockbox to progress and succeed, and such rudeness is going to drive away many users who are put off by this nature of surliness. I think it is a PR issue and I strongly believe it matters.

So come on guys, we appreciate the work you do. And you may enjoy it more with a little bit more of congeniality around here.    

[elborak]

I have seen virtually no rudeness from any of the moderators here in months of regular reading of these forums. Is saying "read the manual" or "search the wiki" rude? Is saying "read the posting guidelines before posting" rude?

I just don't see it.

[Llorean]

I'll tell you what, you get every new member to show enough respect to read the rules and follow them as they're written, and I'll be polite as a kitten. Do we have a deal?

Respect gets respect.

I don't think I'm overly rude, but I do tend to be short with people who've clearly either ignored or not bothered to read the rules. With the number of posts I've read through, it's impossible not to be. I read every post on this forum, every day, and that totals to quite a few, a high percentage of which haven't bothered to show the basic courtesy of doing what they agreed to do and follow the rules.

[junkers]

"I don't think I'm overly rude, but I do tend to be short with people who've clearly either ignored or not bothered to read the rules. With the number of posts I've read through, it's impossible not to be."

I won't cite specific examples of "rudeness" but may be it is the "tend to be short with people" that comes through on occasion.

"I read every post on this forum, every day, and that totals to quite a few"

Dude, that's the part we appreciate most of all.  Please keep it up!

[bascule]

...we all want Rockbox to progress and succeed, and such rudeness is going to drive away many users who are put off by this nature of surliness...

As I see it, the above is the point around which this whole discussion revolves.

We are not gearing up for an IPO here! This project is not for profit, it's probably not even for recognition and respect, it was started by a couple of guys who were fed up with the poor quality of the OF on their Archos machines. There is no drive for any defined progression nor any definition of 'success'.

The developers are doing it for themselves and no-one else. If you like it and want to contribute, fine; if not, it's absolutely no skin off their nose. (British colloquialism).

The combination of these factors creates the behavioural environment that is displayed on these forums:

We like to help those who wish to help themselves.
We do not wish to spoon-feed every excitable, demanding newbie who has tried to install Rockbox (a replacement firmware, FFS, not just a simple application) ten minutes after stumbling across the site from somewhere else.

[bluebrother]

We like to help those who wish to help themselves.
We do not wish to spoon-feed every excitable, demanding newbie who has tried to install Rockbox (a replacement firmware, FFS, not just a simple application) ten minutes after stumbling across the site from somewhere else.

well said -- just wanted to post something similar. Rockbox does not need users, good PR or other recognition. It's just a nice-to-have.

Besides, we have our way here. If somebody doesn't like it he is free to leave, but as any other group of people new ones have to adapt the the rules of the group. Like it or not, that's the way it works in this world. And in this forums the rules are even written down so anyone can (and should) get to know them first.

[AlexP]

There are enough posts as it is that make me want to bang my head against the wall, imagine how many there would be if the rules weren't enforced.  To be honest, most of the time I just ignore them and don't bother answering.  Every now and again I have a couple of philanphropic days and reply.

Help is received by demonstrating you have tried to help yourself.

Respect is earned.

I am a native Englsih speaker and have good eyesight and have trouble understanding some of the posts.  Those that can't be bothered to write a coherent post in proper English should imagine how bad it is for those who don't speak English so well or who rely on screen reading software, and have a little consideration.

As for the posts that just ask again and again for information either all over the forum or in the manual, people have spent much time and effort writing the manual or answering previous posts.  Why should we bother to write it out again because someone can't be bothered to search or read?

[Hypnotic Monkey]

just discovered this today.

[mikeage]

I think on the topic of rudeness, everyone should read this post:

http://forums.rockbox.org/index.php?topic=10507.msg79868

And my all time favorite message to Llorean (who actually is a good guy

http://forums.rockbox.org/index.php?topic=10102.msg77561#msg77561

Mind you, I agree with Llorean's response, not the complaint. I still think it's hilarious (or incredibly depressing) that someone can be so anti-social as to actually post that...

[cpchan]

Mind you, I agree with Llorean's response, not the complaint. I still think it's hilarious (or incredibly depressing) that someone can be so anti-social as to actually post that...

I am speechless after reading Colombo's postings.  

Charles

[riksweeney]

The "Experts" aren't jerks.

I've been using Rockbox for a few years now and when I was first on these boards, questions like these would come up

How do I use this?
Where's the iPod version?
I downloaded it, now what?
Stop wasting your time with <insert name of DAP> and spend more time on <insert name of DAP>
Fix this bug, NOW!
Add this feature, NOW!

These would be answered politely and a gentle prod towards reading the manual would also be mentioned in the reply, but as time went on the responses became more to the point of "read manual, twice"

And I really don't blame the "Experts" as the above questions would appear at least one a week, sometimes several times a day.

Oh, and if you think these guys are jerks, you should go to the MAME.net message board...

[LambdaCalculus]

Oh, and if you think these guys are jerks, you should go to the MAME.net message board...

Dude, what you trying to do? Give us nightmares?  

On another note, those "questions" still keep popping up from time to time. And you've gotta love these other favorites:

HELP ME I THINK I BROKED IT!!!!
gameboy
how 2 get doom wads

And if you act now, you can enjoy these all-time classics:

where's the 2g nano version?
make a port for (insert DAP of your choice here)

And many more...

I've counted more instances of those questions (variants included), and there's more of them on these forums than I have fingers and toes.

What makes it all the sadder is that half of these questions are asked by people that haven't a single solitary idea of how open source projects work.

[GodEater]

As a newly appointed "Jerk" - I'd just like to say my personal favourites are from those people who think Rockbox is some sort of "theme" for their iPod, rather than a complete replacement OS for it

[elborak]

just discovered this today.

Because you didn't follow the posting guidelines today. QED.

[vak01]

I have personally experienced "tough" responses to my few queries BUT upon re-reading MY questions, I have seen how the question could have been worded MUCH better and/or I could have researched much more extensively before writing anything.

Based upon my experiences, I don't think the term "jerk" applies .... tough, but not jerks.