4.16.24 21st Century Movements for Black Lives.pptx
Don't be a jerk
1. How to let go of your ego
and help your customers
succeed
Subtitle: Don't be a jerk
Rich Bowen - rbowen@geek.net
Community Growth Hacker, SourceForge
@rbowen
2.
3. Open Source = Middle School
Make fun of the new kid
Say mean things to the girls
Show off your scars
5. Smart Questions: Eric Raymond
RTFM and STFW: How To Tell You've Seriously Screwed
Up
There is an ancient and hallowed tradition: if you get a
reply that reads “RTFM”, the person who sent it thinks
you should have Read The F***ing Manual. He or she is
almost certainly right. Go read it.
RTFM has a younger relative. If you get a reply that reads
“STFW”, the person who sent it thinks you should have
Searched The F*ing Web. He or she is almost certainly
right. Go search it. (The milder version of this is when
you are told “Google is your friend!”)
6. Why do we do this?
This is a hobby. Support is a job
People are mean and entitled
The answers are obvious
23. Who is your audience?
Apprentice
Avoid terms like "newbie" and "user",
as they set the wrong voice.
Journeyman
Master
24. Apprentice
How to get started
May not know what questions to ask
Preserve their dignity (See also: Don't
be a jerk)
25. Journeyman
Viz: Wikipedia
May do this every day, but it's probably
not their primary skill
Will likely know what to ask, and has
already done some research
Generally wants to solve a problem or
complete a task
26. Master
Doesn't want to waste your time or
theirs
May be a good candidate for project
participation
27. Speak to them
Imagine an actual audience that you're
writing to
This helps set your voice correctly
Good docs will have different voices for
each audience
28. Elevator
“If you can't explain
it simply, you don't
cszar, on Flickr
understand it well
enough”
-Albert Einstein
40. Being Rude
Most of the time, you don't mean to
That guy was just an idiot
Idiots are frustrating
I've already answered that question
17,000,000 times today
51. Yes, some questions are stupid
Attempt to understand the
situation the question came
from, rather than critiquing the
question
They're probably not intentionally
wasting your time
52. Don't hesitate to
suggest a better
solution
But ... they may
have a reason
for their
proposed
solution
54. Frequently Asked Questions
Don't say "RTFM"
Rather, provide a link directly to the
answer in the FM, so that next time,
they look there first
Actually read that answer, and if it's
inadequate, GO FIX IT
55. Frequently Asked Questions
Also, don't say "STFW"
It's insulting to assume that they
haven't done anything at all towards a
solution.
(Even if it's occasionally true.)
By listening, you can ascertain what
they've already done
56. Yes, people should do
their research, but ...
Being rude as your initial stance is
hugely arrogant
"How to ask smart questions" is an
arrogant document that puts all the
blame on the customer
57. Do it once, really really well
It's better to answer the question once,
really well, and then link to it, than to
answer it repeatedly, getting more
frustrated each time
59. Where do docs come from?
These are questions we think users
might want answered
vs.
These are questions customers are
actually asking
60. Young projects
You don't know what folks will ask
You write docs about what you expect
to be useful
61. Mature projects
Listen to the customer, and answer the
questions that they're asking
Frequently asked questions might
actually be feature requests
62. Listening
Mailing lists
Usenet (Yes, it's still alive)
IRC
Third-party websites with their horrible
horrible advice
63. Third-party sites
Sometimes evidence that you've failed
with your docs
Gently point out their errors
Ask them if they'd like to contribute to
the official docs
Everybody wins
64. Third-party sites
Tend to go for fastest cheapest
solution, not necessarily best practice
65. Unfortunately ...
You have to actually participate on
those sites to make a difference
66. Statistics
What docs are people looking at?
What Google search led them there?
Does the doc seem to answer that
question?
Do you provide them a feedback
method?
67.
68. 5. Learn something
If you go very long without learning
anything, you probably are out of touch
with the audience of your
documentation