Re: recent blog posts on Fedora Planet.
It’s easy to forget that in a world of mailing list and blogs, real people are involved in software development.
They funnel years of work into projects and have real world requirements for what they do. Ultimately it is important to remember that many (if not most) of us are professionals, and it’s best to not sweat the proverbial small stuff when every microcosm of an application isn’t written as if you designed it. It may not be possible to understand why all things are done a certain way, but they are usually done in a certain way for a good reason. If you have an opinion about any given project, comments are almost always welcome, but do not expect agreement. I would point folks to the story of the Little Red Hen, in particular. Are you helping make the bread? If so, your opinion matters more. Also, I should add, if you are helping pay for my house, your opinion matters just as much! However if you’re just another voice on the internet, one must learn to live and let live — but not everything can always be the way you want.
Seek first to understand, and then when something isn’t exactly how you like it, realize that your opinion is not the only one out there.
Think happy thoughts. Relax. Learn to work well with others and that they are real people. Don’t point fingers. There are more important problems than what color the bike shed is. There is room for differing philosophies, and you may not always be right. Mailing list and blogosphere flamewars are not a productive use of time, and it’s best to not deal with those distractions. It’s best to just move forward.
(Though, it may be said, user-replaceable CSS themes may be a viable solutions to bike sheds, if only they worked in the real world and not just on the internet)
