[mlmmj] Encouraging

[Ben Schmidt <mail_ben_schmidt@yahoo.com.au>]

Hi, guys,

As an aside to our recent discussions, and the general flavour of our
little community here: I'm not sure the project will move forward very
effectively if we just pick holes in things. And that seems to be our
pattern, more often than not. Someone raises an idea or asks for
feedback, and most replies are negative or just dismissive. (And I do
realise I am an offender, too.)

Voicing concerns is, of course, really important. But it would be really
great if we could at least try to see the good points in people's
suggestions, and encourage our fellow developers by acknowledging these
good points. Perhaps if a feature doesn't negatively impact us, but we
merely see it as unnecessary or we don't want to use it, it would be
better to remain quiet than say something negative. People are giving up
their valuable time after all (even if it's just the time it takes to
write email). Some thankyous and affirmation are warranted. If you think
it clutters up the list too much, send a note privately. But honestly,
how much time does it take to read a reply that says "I like this idea"
or "Me too" and whack delete? Not a big price to pay to acknowledge each
other publicly.

When we do voice concerns, it would be great if we could think about
what the developer was trying to achieve by their suggestion, and
include in our reply an idea or two for how they could achieve their
desired result while avoiding whatever we thought was problematic. I
think the discussion is more constructive then.

Just something to chew on.

Smiles,

Ben.