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Suggested: "The Artist": posted a screenshot of a terminal instead of copy and pasting the text "The Filmmaker": posted an animated GIF of their terminal sess

by twp 3y ago

Suggested: "The Artist": posted a screenshot of a terminal instead of copy and pasting the text "The Filmmaker": posted an animated GIF of their terminal session instead of writing out what they did Maintainers _love_ artists and filmmakers!

jkubicek 3y ago
"The Novelist": Opens an issue or replies to a thread with only the words "doesn't work" with no indication of what they tried, how they know it doesn't work, or any error messages. "Captain Obvious": Opens a very aggressive and angry issue about the project not installing, when the maintainer responds to double-check that you didn't miss a critical and well-documented note in the docs, you disappear, never to reply again.
- crabmusket 3y ago
  I'd call that first one "The Hemingway Award For Terminal Concision In Fault Diagnosis"
- rendaw 3y ago
  There's a legitimate reason for posting low information issues - finding out if it's a known limitation or issue (that didn't come up in a search) before putting in extra effort to document something that's already been documented and discussed elsewhere. Maybe not "doesn't work" (two words) exactly, but "This doesn't work for me with the X234 hardware" (... with an implied "is this expected?"). It's very common for people new to projects or with limited technical skills to assume that the problems they face are common/well known or that other people know much more than them. The frustration responders face is due to the mismatch of assumptions, if the issue is in fact not common or well known, but IMO a simple "I haven't seen that before, please post full diagnostics" is an easy and reasonable boilerplate response.
  - darekkay 3y ago
    > "This doesn't work for me with the X234 hardware" The problem with that phrase is that you didn't state what is not working. I don't expect - although highly welcome - a complete diagnostics from the reporter, but please at least write the steps to reproduce your issue.
    - brookst 3y ago
      Yes. “Install failed with permissions error” or “runs but doesn’t seem to be listening on configured port” at least.
- darekkay 3y ago
  > "The Novelist": Opens an issue or replies to a thread with only the words "doesn't work" with no indication of what they tried, how they know it doesn't work, or any error messages. "The Shrug Reporter" might be a better name [0] [0] https://www.computer-dictionary-online.org/definitions-s/shrug-report.html https://www.computer-dictionary-online.org/definitions-s/shr...
dmitshur 3y ago
Along these lines: "The Art Critic": posted a screenshot of a diff containing a suggested code change instead of sending a PR I've actually done something like this exactly once when I was much newer to GitHub and git (and probably wanted to save some of my time).
doubled112 3y ago
> a screenshot of a terminal instead of copy and pasting the text No. Please, no! For some reason, I get screenshots of text regularly from technical people. Log files, error messages, everything. It is like they forget Slack can send anything more than images and emojis. No, I'm not typing out keywords from 3 pages of Java exception, nor am I typing an encoded AWS authorization message.
- Noumenon72 3y ago
  Is there a tool that lets you can paste in a screenshot and have it extract the text?
  - reaperman 3y ago
    MacOS does this pretty automatically across multiple apps.
    - shpx 3y ago
      I've tried using it for this exact thing, and it doesn't work that well with terminal screenshots. You have to carefully read the output and fix it manually, but at least it's better than typing it all out by hand.
    - Noumenon72 3y ago
      What do you mean, MacOS? I use a Mac and have no idea how to do this.
  - sqrt_1 3y ago
    On Windows, as part of PowerToys - there is a Text extractor. Works just like the screenshot tool except dumps text to clipboard https://learn.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/powertoys/text-extractor https://learn.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/powertoys/text-ext...
  - doubled112 3y ago
    Yes, but in the case of the authorization message it was cut off. It isn’t just one thing that goes wrong with my team members.
MrJohz 3y ago
> "The Filmmaker": posted an animated GIF of their terminal session instead of writing out what they did I love videos and GIFs when trying to debug something. They're usually much better at catching small details than people's descriptions. Very often, the bug will hinge on an action that you can do in multiple ways, or some action that the user took directly before triggering the bug that they don't realise is necessarily part of the problem. Or maybe the bug only triggers on certain screen sizes or something, or if certain terminal colours are used, or if the user is using a touchscreen or something. Having a video makes it a lot easier to notice these sorts of things. It's not always perfect, and a detailed description alongside the video is best, especially if you also have any errors or important text copied there so I can copy it myself, but given the choice, I often prefer video over text. So yes, I genuinely love filmmakers in this context. Send me screenshots, send me videos!
- uranusjr 3y ago
  Videos are good as long as you also provide copyable content. Gifs not so much since I can’t pause.
  - Adverblessly 3y ago
    mpv will also play gifs and allow you to pause them. It also knows how to stream web resources. I have a keyboard shortcut bound to run mpv with the content of the clipboard, so right click on gif, "Copy Image Link", hit the keyboard shortcut and wait for the gif to open in mpv where I can pause, speed up, speed down, scroll etc. Also useful for any video or audio on the web, since mpv is (for me) much nicer than any built-in player.
    - throwawaymobule 3y ago
      I don't think it works with images, but I get a lot of use out of this browser extension: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/open-with/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/open-with/ Specifically for running MPV with URL-links/video sources/iframe sources as an argument.
waitforit 3y ago
"The problem solver": asks how to solve a specific error while also posting the stacktrace/error which already contains a message about how to solve the error
- FridgeSeal 3y ago
  “Readme, Readme-not”: opens an issue asking how to do something explicitly covered in the readme/getting started.
  - TheNewsIsHere 3y ago
    I love this one. We’ve all missed something plain as day at some point. I pride myself on RTFM before I start working with something, but I’ve earned this medal a few times. Can we also start handing out achievements to repos and/or orgs? I have a few where “Clear As Molasses” is a good one for the README: “Documents something useful in an entirely opaque manner.” (Edit: Maybe requiring you read the code to understand what the README failed to articulate about something basic?) Edit: typo
mook 3y ago
"not helping": posting low-effort comments that don't help with anything "Internet famous": your repo had a bug so severe you got news articles written about it. Both were from thinking about https://github.com/MrMEEE/bumblebee-Old-and-abbandoned/issues/123 https://github.com/MrMEEE/bumblebee-Old-and-abbandoned/issue... …
lynx23 3y ago
And it is no surprise that the behaviour of The Artists clashes with expectations of people that rely on accessibility. It is very telling if I read a blog where the content is about terminal stuff, and each and every example is a plain image. Unfortunately, this is spreading.
thih9 3y ago
“Wikipedian”: reverted a commit within 10 minutes of it being pushed to main. “Social distancer”: submitted a commit that just adds spacing. “Edgycat”: contributed or suggested a badge for this repo (I’m earning this badge right now!). “Duct tape”: sent three commits in a row that contain text “fix tests”
- mirekrusin 3y ago
  "Rust Evangelist": creates issue suggesting moving project to Rust
  - em-bee 3y ago
    on five different projects
mirekrusin 3y ago
"Angry Karen" - posts entitled, aggressive comments to open-source authors, possibly demands money back for wasted time
- OrangeMusic 3y ago
  The social Justice Warrior: demands the project stop using some terminology they deem "problematic" while already having forked the project with a new name, just in case maintainers don't comply within 15 minutes.
mirekrusin 3y ago
"Fake Profile": recently created account with fake activity likely for the purpose of landing multiple full-time remote jobs
TRiG_Ireland 3y ago
Even better when the Terminal has a funky background image making the text hard to read. I've seen that in some questions on Ask Ubuntu.

by twp 3y ago

jkubicek 3y ago

"The Novelist": Opens an issue or replies to a thread with only the words "doesn't work" with no indication of what they tried, how they know it doesn't work, or any error messages. "Captain Obvious": Opens a very aggressive and angry issue about the project not installing, when the maintainer responds to double-check that you didn't miss a critical and well-documented note in the docs, you disappear, never to reply again.

crabmusket 3y ago
I'd call that first one "The Hemingway Award For Terminal Concision In Fault Diagnosis"
rendaw 3y ago
There's a legitimate reason for posting low information issues - finding out if it's a known limitation or issue (that didn't come up in a search) before putting in extra effort to document something that's already been documented and discussed elsewhere. Maybe not "doesn't work" (two words) exactly, but "This doesn't work for me with the X234 hardware" (... with an implied "is this expected?"). It's very common for people new to projects or with limited technical skills to assume that the problems they face are common/well known or that other people know much more than them. The frustration responders face is due to the mismatch of assumptions, if the issue is in fact not common or well known, but IMO a simple "I haven't seen that before, please post full diagnostics" is an easy and reasonable boilerplate response.
- darekkay 3y ago
  > "This doesn't work for me with the X234 hardware" The problem with that phrase is that you didn't state what is not working. I don't expect - although highly welcome - a complete diagnostics from the reporter, but please at least write the steps to reproduce your issue.
  - brookst 3y ago
    Yes. “Install failed with permissions error” or “runs but doesn’t seem to be listening on configured port” at least.
darekkay 3y ago
> "The Novelist": Opens an issue or replies to a thread with only the words "doesn't work" with no indication of what they tried, how they know it doesn't work, or any error messages. "The Shrug Reporter" might be a better name [0] [0] https://www.computer-dictionary-online.org/definitions-s/shrug-report.html https://www.computer-dictionary-online.org/definitions-s/shr...

dmitshur 3y ago

Along these lines: "The Art Critic": posted a screenshot of a diff containing a suggested code change instead of sending a PR I've actually done something like this exactly once when I was much newer to GitHub and git (and probably wanted to save some of my time).

doubled112 3y ago

> a screenshot of a terminal instead of copy and pasting the text No. Please, no! For some reason, I get screenshots of text regularly from technical people. Log files, error messages, everything. It is like they forget Slack can send anything more than images and emojis. No, I'm not typing out keywords from 3 pages of Java exception, nor am I typing an encoded AWS authorization message.

Noumenon72 3y ago
Is there a tool that lets you can paste in a screenshot and have it extract the text?
- reaperman 3y ago
  MacOS does this pretty automatically across multiple apps.
  - shpx 3y ago
    I've tried using it for this exact thing, and it doesn't work that well with terminal screenshots. You have to carefully read the output and fix it manually, but at least it's better than typing it all out by hand.
  - Noumenon72 3y ago
    What do you mean, MacOS? I use a Mac and have no idea how to do this.
- sqrt_1 3y ago
  On Windows, as part of PowerToys - there is a Text extractor. Works just like the screenshot tool except dumps text to clipboard https://learn.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/powertoys/text-extractor https://learn.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/powertoys/text-ext...
- doubled112 3y ago
  Yes, but in the case of the authorization message it was cut off. It isn’t just one thing that goes wrong with my team members.

MrJohz 3y ago

> "The Filmmaker": posted an animated GIF of their terminal session instead of writing out what they did I love videos and GIFs when trying to debug something. They're usually much better at catching small details than people's descriptions. Very often, the bug will hinge on an action that you can do in multiple ways, or some action that the user took directly before triggering the bug that they don't realise is necessarily part of the problem. Or maybe the bug only triggers on certain screen sizes or something, or if certain terminal colours are used, or if the user is using a touchscreen or something. Having a video makes it a lot easier to notice these sorts of things. It's not always perfect, and a detailed description alongside the video is best, especially if you also have any errors or important text copied there so I can copy it myself, but given the choice, I often prefer video over text. So yes, I genuinely love filmmakers in this context. Send me screenshots, send me videos!

uranusjr 3y ago
Videos are good as long as you also provide copyable content. Gifs not so much since I can’t pause.
- Adverblessly 3y ago
  mpv will also play gifs and allow you to pause them. It also knows how to stream web resources. I have a keyboard shortcut bound to run mpv with the content of the clipboard, so right click on gif, "Copy Image Link", hit the keyboard shortcut and wait for the gif to open in mpv where I can pause, speed up, speed down, scroll etc. Also useful for any video or audio on the web, since mpv is (for me) much nicer than any built-in player.
  - throwawaymobule 3y ago
    I don't think it works with images, but I get a lot of use out of this browser extension: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/open-with/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/open-with/ Specifically for running MPV with URL-links/video sources/iframe sources as an argument.

waitforit 3y ago

"The problem solver": asks how to solve a specific error while also posting the stacktrace/error which already contains a message about how to solve the error

FridgeSeal 3y ago
“Readme, Readme-not”: opens an issue asking how to do something explicitly covered in the readme/getting started.
- TheNewsIsHere 3y ago
  I love this one. We’ve all missed something plain as day at some point. I pride myself on RTFM before I start working with something, but I’ve earned this medal a few times. Can we also start handing out achievements to repos and/or orgs? I have a few where “Clear As Molasses” is a good one for the README: “Documents something useful in an entirely opaque manner.” (Edit: Maybe requiring you read the code to understand what the README failed to articulate about something basic?) Edit: typo

mook 3y ago

"not helping": posting low-effort comments that don't help with anything "Internet famous": your repo had a bug so severe you got news articles written about it. Both were from thinking about https://github.com/MrMEEE/bumblebee-Old-and-abbandoned/issues/123 https://github.com/MrMEEE/bumblebee-Old-and-abbandoned/issue... …

lynx23 3y ago

And it is no surprise that the behaviour of The Artists clashes with expectations of people that rely on accessibility. It is very telling if I read a blog where the content is about terminal stuff, and each and every example is a plain image. Unfortunately, this is spreading.

thih9 3y ago

“Wikipedian”: reverted a commit within 10 minutes of it being pushed to main. “Social distancer”: submitted a commit that just adds spacing. “Edgycat”: contributed or suggested a badge for this repo (I’m earning this badge right now!). “Duct tape”: sent three commits in a row that contain text “fix tests”

mirekrusin 3y ago
"Rust Evangelist": creates issue suggesting moving project to Rust
- em-bee 3y ago
  on five different projects

mirekrusin 3y ago

"Angry Karen" - posts entitled, aggressive comments to open-source authors, possibly demands money back for wasted time

OrangeMusic 3y ago
The social Justice Warrior: demands the project stop using some terminology they deem "problematic" while already having forked the project with a new name, just in case maintainers don't comply within 15 minutes.

mirekrusin 3y ago

"Fake Profile": recently created account with fake activity likely for the purpose of landing multiple full-time remote jobs

TRiG_Ireland 3y ago

Even better when the Terminal has a funky background image making the text hard to read. I've seen that in some questions on Ask Ubuntu.