As someone who has worked many years alongside (at the desk next to) customer service reps, I can verify that no amount of organisation or pleasantries can quell the entitlement of anyone who thinks you owe them something. Be that x feature in GIMP, or x release date for the next GIMP. People are very much the same in that regard, and it's crushing to have to deal with it all the time. People can be banned from the mailing list if they make too much of a fuss, but I have to say Alexander's way of handling things is a nearly flawless mix of not taking any shit (which, after all, why should GIMP contribs suffer this after donating time to provide free software for the world?) and being concise and helpful to those who approach with a constructive attitude (as part of the community). We have not always seen eye to eye on things, but I'm always learning stuff about handing trollish behaviour from this mailing list, thanks primarily to Alex, also recognising the behaviour in myself and doing my best to avoid making the same mistakes as people who can only complain rather than be helpful (Alex PMs me if I go to far to the ranty side, even in his defence). So that definitely isn't broken. Alex saves us on a regular basis from having to deal with trolls on all our media platforms while keeping all ports of communication open for our users. Every project should have one, but he's ours! ;) Just my thoughts. -C On Fri, 16 Nov 2018, 08:17 Alexandre Prokoudine via gimp-developer-list < gimp-developer-list@xxxxxxxxx wrote: > пт, 16 нояб. 2018 г., 6:40 Trevor Rose tarose.trevor@xxxxxxxxx: > > > > > 3 — the solution to the problem is to tighten up your communications > > channels, and to use some other technology rather than just an email > group, > > and in which alternative system a person must be logged in, and each > post, > > thread and comment/reply is not only better organised, but can be > > identified as per user ID, GROUP, and ROLE ... PLUS AND MOST IMPORTANTLY > > you can constrain each unit of communication by using mandatory fields > and > > filters, in order to force clearer communication and remove some amount > of > > abuse, while also being able to ban anyone who takes their passion beyond > > an accepted threshold/limit. > > > > Hi Trevor, > > I'm afraid I'm not a big believer in technical constraints as means to > manage a community. We have a history of making it difficult for people to > contribute to GIMP in any way. I would hesitate to make it even harder. > > Your suggestion boils down to making initial communication more complicated > while, indeed, more structured. It also seems to suggest some sort of > pre-moderation which puts a heavier burden on those of us involved with > moderation. > > So mailing lists are a tool that keeps communication open enough and takes > just about the right amount of time to keep our sanity at the cost of rare > outbursts like this one. > > Having said all that, I would still appreciate examples of what you > consider superior communication channels. > > Alex > _______________________________________________ > gimp-developer-list mailing list > List address: gimp-developer-list@xxxxxxxxx > List membership: > https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/gimp-developer-list > List archives: https://mail.gnome.org/archives/gimp-developer-list > _______________________________________________ gimp-developer-list mailing list List address: gimp-developer-list@xxxxxxxxx List membership: https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/gimp-developer-list List archives: https://mail.gnome.org/archives/gimp-developer-list
