Messages in this thread | | | Date | Tue, 16 Jul 2013 15:43:57 -0700 | From | Sarah Sharp <> | Subject | Re: [Ksummit-2013-discuss] [ATTEND] How to act on LKML (was: [ 00/19] 3.10.1-stable review) |
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On Tue, Jul 16, 2013 at 05:27:04PM -0400, Theodore Ts'o wrote: > On Tue, Jul 16, 2013 at 02:12:35PM -0700, Sarah Sharp wrote: > > "Your code is crap" is considered unprofessional, while > > > "Let's leverage my fifth grade nephew's capabilities to assist you in > > > fixing the code" is perfectly professional, somehow. That's more > > > often than not an unacceptable attitude in europe. > > > > I *hate* both direct personal insults and indirect personal insults. > > Neither should be acceptable in our community. > > What is a "direct personal insult" can be in the eye of the beholder. > Personally, I don't consider "your code is crap" as a personal insult. > "You are an incompetent programmer for producing this crap" would be a > personal attack. > > Similarly, there is a difference between "That was an idiotic idea" > and "You are an idiot". > > Now, there are certainly more {diplomatic, politically correct, > choose-your-own-favorite-adjective} ways wording the description of a > particularly bad idea or piece of code. But is that a "personal > attack"?
I don't think we disagree on this, Ted. I've stated that I view personal attacks and insults negatively, and I don't see an issue with pointing out that code is bad. I think you're agreeing with me on this.
> Keep in mind that there are some cultures where even pointing out a > technical flaw in code might considered bringing deep shame on the > engineer and their company. So how sensitive people are to criticism > during an electronic exchange is always going to be highly culutrally > and personally variable.
Yes, that's true. Some kernel developers are better at moderating their comments and tone towards individuals who are "sensitive". Others simply don't give a shit. So we need to figure out how to meet somewhere in the middle, in order to establish a baseline of civility.
Sarah Sharp
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