4 ms·

Please avoid "why would you do X?" when discussing some tool or workflow. It's needlessly confrontational (and through that, restrictive of diversity, as differ

by dictum 7y ago

Please avoid "why would you do X?" when discussing some tool or workflow. It's needlessly confrontational (and through that, restrictive of diversity, as different groups can have different needs and preferences), devoid of information (it doesn't explain the converse, why you shouldn't do X), and lacking in imagination (establishes tradition as a hard principle, and not just a guideline that can be broken depending on the context). It's good to want to know why some people want to do X, but try to ask it in a way that doesn't make a negative assumption about the people taking a certain approach.

vortexman100 7y ago
The way you wrote this is amazing. I am creating a database of great comments like this just for you.
dvtrn 7y ago
try to ask it in a way that doesn't make a negative assumption about the people taking a certain approach. I feel like there is a LOT in this comment that is reading much more into a question that very likely are not even there, to take the position of scolding someone just because their inquiry was delivered in brevity.
- lixtra 7y ago
  Actually, I agree with dictum (and appreciate the pointy comment). Many people read my comment confrontational, or it wouldn't be downvoted. And then I learned that there is a niche (compared to 30% WP) of technical people that have their content in GitHub anyway and profit from simple deployment through netlify. It just fits their workflow. I had the typical business user (another blog post said everyone!) in mind and I don't see them to be able to handle git so it sounded very far fetched which was reflected in the tone.
- dictum 7y ago
  I don't mean to scold, but I understand that it comes across as pedantry. It's hard to give good advice in a tone that isn't paternalistic, and I should get better at doing that. Sometimes you just want to ask a genuine question without somebody questioning your phrasing. What prompted me to give out advice is "Feel free to downvote but please answer". I don't believe the comment deserves a downvote, but I assume (and it may be, as you put it, reading too much into it) that some downvotes come from people who are tired of seeing the attitude I describe in my reply (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7650799#7651343 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7650799#7651343). It's a case of greedy matching /why would you do/.
iamtheworstdev 7y ago
What if English is the persons second/third/xth language and that's the best way they know to ask?

by dictum 7y ago

vortexman100 7y ago

The way you wrote this is amazing. I am creating a database of great comments like this just for you.

dvtrn 7y ago

try to ask it in a way that doesn't make a negative assumption about the people taking a certain approach. I feel like there is a LOT in this comment that is reading much more into a question that very likely are not even there, to take the position of scolding someone just because their inquiry was delivered in brevity.

lixtra 7y ago
Actually, I agree with dictum (and appreciate the pointy comment). Many people read my comment confrontational, or it wouldn't be downvoted. And then I learned that there is a niche (compared to 30% WP) of technical people that have their content in GitHub anyway and profit from simple deployment through netlify. It just fits their workflow. I had the typical business user (another blog post said everyone!) in mind and I don't see them to be able to handle git so it sounded very far fetched which was reflected in the tone.
dictum 7y ago
I don't mean to scold, but I understand that it comes across as pedantry. It's hard to give good advice in a tone that isn't paternalistic, and I should get better at doing that. Sometimes you just want to ask a genuine question without somebody questioning your phrasing. What prompted me to give out advice is "Feel free to downvote but please answer". I don't believe the comment deserves a downvote, but I assume (and it may be, as you put it, reading too much into it) that some downvotes come from people who are tired of seeing the attitude I describe in my reply (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7650799#7651343 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7650799#7651343). It's a case of greedy matching /why would you do/.

iamtheworstdev 7y ago

What if English is the persons second/third/xth language and that's the best way they know to ask?