Dear Steve Very well said.....
Now hopefully the "bitching" will stop? Steve On Fri, 11 Mar 2005 08:16:25 -0500, Steve Kopischke <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Russell Kent wrote: > > > > > > > Doug Thompson wrote: > > > >> > >> It is impossible to make things as "easy as possible for [all] > >> potential users." That is because far too many users are too > >> intellectually lazy to make the effort to learn and understand their > >> tasks and the tools to perform those tasks. They merely know how to > >> push the buttons they were taught. You are welcome to try to prove > >> me wrong, but first spend a few weeks reading and even responding to > >> inquiries to this list. Your appreciation of the incredible patience > >> and dedication of the Project Leads and other regular contributors > >> will be altered significantly. > >> > >> Perhaps the following warning should be available before downloading OOO > > > > > > "Warning, Do not even think about downloading this programme if you > > are too intellectually lazy to make any effort to learn and > > understand how to use it an only want to push buttons" > > > > An interesting marketing concept. > > > [warning - rant alert] > > Not a marketing concept, but a support model. And one we should *openly* > adopt, if in a milder tone. > > Too often in IT support of all kinds, we get drawn into the "I'm too > busy to learn, come do this for me" trap. This is frequently supported > by upper management who side with the poor, overworked end users. I've > seen this happen as an IT employee in firms large and small, as well as > a consultant. Countless times I've had to reset a network password > (sometimes day after day) because not only did the user not take > ownership of remembering the password, but management decided it was > better for me to spend my time resetting passwords than making the > network more stable, secure, available, etc. > > In the open source software world, the "here's how you can help > yourself" or "teach a someone to fish" approach to support is a > necessity. Any user who is put off by the concept of having to exert > him/herself to get up and running probably is not a good candidate for > open source software. No application, whether by function, interface or > support model, is going to be the best fit for all users. By not > acknowledging that, I think we do the open source community at large a > disservice. > > The folks who offer support here in the [users] list do an incredible > job of not only helping new and experienced users find solutions, but > they *create* them with what I consider to be astonishing regularity. > When was the last time a Microsoft technician offered to write a macro > to provide missing or hidden functionality in Word? > > I see the same kinds of complaints in Mozilla's support forums - "You > mean you want to me look it up? What are you, mean and nasty? Where's my > *support*?!?!?" O.K., perhaps that's a little (but just a little) over > the top, but I think you can see my point. > > I feel that by not acknowledging the peer support, "help yourself, and > learn how you can help others" nature of open source software, we > perpetuate the myth that learning how to use software is *hard*. Think > about how much time it takes to learn how to drive a car. Use a power > tool or a sewing machine. None of those come with menus, yet we're all > used to heeding warnings on packaging that say "read the owner's manual > before using this for the first time." And we all (most of us, anyway) > take the time to at least read up on the basics before attempting to cut > our fingers of with a chain saw. We don't consider it an onus to do so. > > When did we all agree that it was OK to ignore the same concept in using > software? > > Russell, your remark may have been meant flippantly and in jest. I > couldn't quite tell. Unfortunately, there are many in the world today > who take just such an approach very seriously. I happen to think that's > the wrong approach. I happen to think we should be very upfront with > users and let them know 'there ain't no such thing as a free lunch.' > After all, if you are required to put a little skin into the game, > you'll likely get more out of it. > > O.K., I'm done now. Thanks. I'll go back to largely lurking. > > oldgnome > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > -- Stephen Forster --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
