Twice today I responded to rude messages (once here, once on the SpamBayes list) whose authors didn't deserve the benefit of my time. In both cases, other people rightfully responded with some small amount of return venom (but provided useful responses nonetheless).
Let me suggest that there is only one "correct" way to respond (if you are going to respond at all) to such messages. That's to focus on the substance of their message and completely ignore the rancor. I've been the chief technical guy (including user support) for Musi-Cal for over ten years and for Mojam for about seven years. During that time I've received lots of thanks from people for the service those sites provide. Every once in awhile though, I get a message out of the blue from someone who is either simply an asshole or is having the mother of all bad days. I've found there is nothing so satisfying as responding politely to such messages and then to have their authors come virtually crawling back later with an apology for having been so out-of-line. Just a thought... Skip -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
