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Where's the corresponding wake-up-call for developers who are tired of answering stupid questions about their software? I've dealt with more than one piece of
by dkarl 17y ago
Where's the corresponding wake-up-call for developers who are tired of answering stupid questions about their software? I've dealt with more than one piece of software where the mailing list is filled with tons of unanswered questions from noobs because the interface or documentation is a mess. You start out asking stupid questions yourself, and everybody ignores you and keeps talking about their high-level expert problems, and you think, "What a bunch of assholes." Then after you figure out the answer yourself, the answer is so stupid and convoluted or just so depressingly retarded that you can't bring yourself to explain it to anybody else who runs into the same problem.
I wish developers would see chronic widespread noob frustration as a problem with the software that needs to be corrected by the developers. There are always a few people who are willing to spend days experimenting and digging through your code before they can use your software. Not only is it a poor piece of software that can only be used that way, it's extremely confusing, because that's not the way things are done anymore! New users are going to waste many days struggling with the overly charitable assumption that your software has a logical, well-documented interface that they are on the verge of figuring out. When they finally figure out that there is no coherent interface and the user manual should be prefaced with a directive to "tinker for a week until you understand how it's implemented, then you'll know what's missing from this manual," they're going to be filled with hatred and rage and desire to kill you. At this point, if I mentioned the piece of software I'm currently working with, it might legally constitute some kind of threat, so I'll just say that I'm pretty fed up and it's a good thing there's no dog, wife, or child at home that I might vent my rage on.