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My preference is usually: ‘hi, thanks for creating this tool/library/whatever. It really makes a meaningful difference in my life. I’m encountering a problem wi

My preference is usually: ‘hi, thanks for creating this tool/library/whatever. It really makes a meaningful difference in my life. I’m encountering a problem with the blah blah module, which you can repro thusly.’ Don’t grovel, but also acknowledge that the only compensation the reader of the report is likely to get is in the form of these extremely rare moments of gratitude. I should also mention that I maintain an open source app that gets used by the public, and is regularly confused by them with being a product of a group of paid individuals. In fact, they usually think the software is a result of their tax dollars at work. I’ve received a lot of really negative, shitty feedback from all sorts of people, including folks in the software industry (shout out to everyone who ever emailed me from their Amazon.com work addresses). Don’t be like these people. The ones who start by simply saying “thanks” not only get more from me, but also help keep my motivation up.

cxr 6y ago
> Don’t grovel, but also acknowledge that the only compensation the reader of the report is likely to get is in the form of these extremely rare moments of gratitude. As I write elsewhere, this is a fundamentally flawed mindset. A high quality bug report is the reader's compensation. It's a goddamned gift. The presumption that the reporter is a leech and the recipient is the one being leeched is exactly what's wrong in the culture. Consider this: You post your project. I'm not in the target demographic. But because I come from the culture epitomized in Shirky's Here Comes Everybody, and not the fucked up culture of the GitHub generation, where 999 times out of 10 you only reach out to someone because you're trying to get something from them, I decide take the time and give it a look anyway. Going into this, I already have nothing to gain. So I do look at it, and I spot a bug. I file a bug report with steps to reproduce. This is a contribution to the project, its maintainer, and whoever uses it. Do something with it, or don't. But no matter how you respond, I will get nothing out of it. To flip things around in a Costanza-like attempt to grab the upper hand is... anti-social. This isn't to say that leeches don't exist. But muggers also exist. And yet, the fact that muggers exist is not a good reason to go around socking people in the mouth when they approach you and start speaking.
- aaronbrethorst 6y ago
  OK, I'll say it differently, don't be an asshole. Don't be an asshole submitting a high quality bug report. Don't be an asshole submitting a low quality bug report. Just don't be an asshole.
- hvis 6y ago
  > But no matter how you respond, I will get nothing out of it. Well, you get a problem solved. One that was probably bothering you or stopping you from doing some work. Otherwise I agree, though. Gratitude is nice, but a well-formulated and described bug reports are the best. (PRs are a mixed bag, because it's rare to have a full match with the current design).
  - cxr 6y ago
    > Well, you get a problem solved. One that was probably bothering you or stopping you from doing some work. You ignored the entire premise. Weird, because I repeated it multiple times. (And I don't understand how the comment can even make any sense unless you get the premise.) To be clear: the scenario outlined above is one where I'm filing a bug report against a software project that I do not use and do not ever intend to use. There's no way a bug in the software can be showstopper for me if the software in question has no effect on the success or failure of whatever show I'm running.
    - aaronbrethorst 6y ago
      To be clear: the scenario outlined above is one where I'm filing a bug report against a software project that I do not use and do not ever intend to use. I think your premise is specious. Who files detailed bug reports on a piece of software that they have never and will never use? What is the scenario where someone would bother doing this? What is the scenario where they even have the knowledge to file this detailed bug report since they lack any context on the software in question?
      - cxr 6y ago
djur 6y ago
I usually flip this around -- report the bug as straightforwardly as possible, and then sign off with a statement of gratitude (usually paired with "let me know if I can provide any more information on this issue"). To me it feels more sincere and less likely to be perceived as trying to preemptively apologize for the bug report.
dTal 6y ago
>In fact, they usually think the software is a result of their tax dollars at work That's amazing. Perhaps it's reality that's wrong.
- aaronbrethorst 6y ago
  Woulda, shoulda, coulda.

cxr 6y ago

> Don’t grovel, but also acknowledge that the only compensation the reader of the report is likely to get is in the form of these extremely rare moments of gratitude. As I write elsewhere, this is a fundamentally flawed mindset. A high quality bug report is the reader's compensation. It's a goddamned gift. The presumption that the reporter is a leech and the recipient is the one being leeched is exactly what's wrong in the culture. Consider this: You post your project. I'm not in the target demographic. But because I come from the culture epitomized in Shirky's Here Comes Everybody, and not the fucked up culture of the GitHub generation, where 999 times out of 10 you only reach out to someone because you're trying to get something from them, I decide take the time and give it a look anyway. Going into this, I already have nothing to gain. So I do look at it, and I spot a bug. I file a bug report with steps to reproduce. This is a contribution to the project, its maintainer, and whoever uses it. Do something with it, or don't. But no matter how you respond, I will get nothing out of it. To flip things around in a Costanza-like attempt to grab the upper hand is... anti-social. This isn't to say that leeches don't exist. But muggers also exist. And yet, the fact that muggers exist is not a good reason to go around socking people in the mouth when they approach you and start speaking.

aaronbrethorst 6y ago
OK, I'll say it differently, don't be an asshole. Don't be an asshole submitting a high quality bug report. Don't be an asshole submitting a low quality bug report. Just don't be an asshole.
hvis 6y ago
> But no matter how you respond, I will get nothing out of it. Well, you get a problem solved. One that was probably bothering you or stopping you from doing some work. Otherwise I agree, though. Gratitude is nice, but a well-formulated and described bug reports are the best. (PRs are a mixed bag, because it's rare to have a full match with the current design).
- cxr 6y ago
  > Well, you get a problem solved. One that was probably bothering you or stopping you from doing some work. You ignored the entire premise. Weird, because I repeated it multiple times. (And I don't understand how the comment can even make any sense unless you get the premise.) To be clear: the scenario outlined above is one where I'm filing a bug report against a software project that I do not use and do not ever intend to use. There's no way a bug in the software can be showstopper for me if the software in question has no effect on the success or failure of whatever show I'm running.
  - aaronbrethorst 6y ago
    To be clear: the scenario outlined above is one where I'm filing a bug report against a software project that I do not use and do not ever intend to use. I think your premise is specious. Who files detailed bug reports on a piece of software that they have never and will never use? What is the scenario where someone would bother doing this? What is the scenario where they even have the knowledge to file this detailed bug report since they lack any context on the software in question?
    - cxr 6y ago

djur 6y ago

I usually flip this around -- report the bug as straightforwardly as possible, and then sign off with a statement of gratitude (usually paired with "let me know if I can provide any more information on this issue"). To me it feels more sincere and less likely to be perceived as trying to preemptively apologize for the bug report.

dTal 6y ago

>In fact, they usually think the software is a result of their tax dollars at work That's amazing. Perhaps it's reality that's wrong.

aaronbrethorst 6y ago
Woulda, shoulda, coulda.