Re: [Ksummit-2013-discuss] [ATTEND] How to act on LKML (was: [ 00/19] 3.10.1-stable review)

Sarah Sharp
2013-07-16T22:43:57Z

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