Re: [gentoo-dev] Re: Improving developer/user communication (was Re: net-im/pidgin protocols)

[Ciaran McCreesh <ciaranm@ciaranm.org>]

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On Thu, 19 Jul 2007 15:45:46 -0500
Dale <dalek1967@bellsouth.net> wrote:
> Ciaran McCreesh wrote:
> > Any user who will see and respond to a question is unrepresentative
> > of the user base in general.
> 
> So if ten users reply then, are all ten individually wrong too?

Not my point. My point is that most Gentoo users would either not see
the question or not respond. Those that both see the question and take
time to respond are highly atypical.

> I wish ALL users would vote in a poll on the forums

That wouldn't tell you what all users want though. It would tell you
what forum users who take the time to respond to a poll want. Again,
not a representative sample. And that's the issue at hand -- Gentoo has
an extremely hard time delivering information to most users. Getting
information back is even trickier. The set of people who respond is
heavily skewed towards better-informed users who have time to seek out
and participate in that kind of questioning.

> as to what we the users want and what direction we want Gentoo to go
> in.

I want guaranteed total stability, instantly available updates,
guaranteed backwards compatibility, the ability to install any package
from source using my configuration of choice in under fifteen seconds
and a herd of nubile bisexual redheads. Can Gentoo deliver that?

> It's no different than elections here in the US, people gripe but
> most of the gripers don't vote.

Do you really think it would make any difference if they did? All it
would do is lend credibility to the process, and provide people with
the argument "well you voted so you agree to accept the decision of
the majority".

-- 
Ciaran McCreesh


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