Gervase Markham wrote: >> The page does not read like a joke. "We can all spell. Try learning - >> it's a useful life skill. Really." Doesn't sound like a joke to me. > > > > It's not a joke. That bit is deadly serious. Fifty years ago people > could spell, because they couldn't offload the work on machines. > Learning to spell means all your handwritten (yes, some people still do > that) communications will also be understandable.
I find this statement highly questionable. Illiteracy rates 50-100 years ago were much higher then they are currently. Many people could not read much less write. Check out http://nces.ed.gov/naal/historicaldata/littrend.asp 50 years ago people wrote with pen, pencil, and paper. This takes longer and leaves more time for thought and makes it far more likely that a spelling error would be noticed. Also, since it was orders of magnitude more difficult to correct an error, more care was taken in what was written. Today, I just hit the backspace a couple of times and retype it. Additionally the whole purpose of machines is to offload work. Are you saying that we shouldn't use machines for this purpose? Or are you just saying that anyone who has trouble spelling should not be allowed to use machines? > Correct spelling has a purpose - a language agrees on standard spellings > in its alphabet of the words for particular things or concepts in order > to promote clear communication between individuals. Better spelling > leads to better communication. > >> It's really not a joke when it is attached to bugs in bugzilla. It >> gives the message "go ahead and report your problems, we don't care!" > > > > On every other topic, we care deeply. > >> The fact that many people are asking about it and requesting it >> indicates that is important functionality. Ignoring large numbers of >> requests from the user community is NOT what makes an open source >> project work. > > > > I hate to sound like a broken record, but if users want a spell-checker, > they should be asking for it from their Mozilla distributor. That's how > RFEs should be fed back to the Mozilla development community. And then > those distributors can allocate resources as they see fit. > Open Source projects do _not_ work by people turning up and saying "I > want a spell-checker! Write me one!" and the developers saying "Yes, > master. We will do your bidding even though there are other thing we'd > rather be doing." So are you saying that noone should ever use the binaries distributed by Mozilla.org and people should only get rebranded versions through sources like Netscape? Actually many open source projects do work by people showing up and saying, "hey, this feature would be useful!". The developers are never required to implement anything, but if they are not receptive to sugestions, they will miss things that could make their project more successful. Why do anything open source if it is not to have other people use it? I am not saying that your FAQ is useless, I am saying that the attitude in it is destructive. >> This one "FAQ" will do far more to harm the Mozilla community and >> Mozilla development then all of the requests and questions about the >> Spell Checker combined. Who wants to be part of a community that >> doesn't care? > > "If you do have resources, and say so up front, you are assured of a > polite and civil welcome." > > Gerv The resources I offer are myself, as a tester, bug reporter, and user. Or do only people who are able to develop in c/java/javascript/etc count? And if I don't have "resources" that qualify for your defination, what kind of welcome can I expect?
