Deposit Slip

Paul Lussier pll@mclinux.com
Tue, 09 Oct 2001 16:19:50 -0400


In a message dated: Tue, 09 Oct 2001 14:59:17 CDT
David Raleigh Arnold said:

>Thanks a lot for all the kind replies.

You're quite welcome :)

>You have made me much more optimistic--really, because you pay attention
>to nonuser feedback as well as user feedback.  Trust me when I say that
>you don't get very much of it, and you are unfortunate in
>that regard.  --oldcurmudgeon :-) 

It's not your feedback anyone objects to, it's the tone of voice with 
which it was delivered.  How do you expect people to react when you 
come out of nowhere telling them that everything they've done is crap 
just because it doesn't fit your specific needs and desires?

You may not have intended that tone, but that's how it was received 
and responded to.  There's a huge difference between things like:

  David> I saw your screen shots.  You have no deposit slip.  You
  David> should have a deposit slip

  David> Your program is useless for many people without it.

[...]

  David> The reason you don't have it is because you slavishly imitate
  David>  the commercial checkbook programs, which don't have it because
  David> the publishers think they don't have to have it.  Thus you
  David> imitate them in dishing out what *they* say users should
  David> want.

[...]

  David> I don't care a rat's ass how much it looks like a checkbook register.

and something like:


	Hey, I was looking at your screenshots and noticed that you 
	don't seem to have a deposit slip.  This happens to be a 
	feature of Quicken I really use a lot.  As a matter of fact,
	it's about the only feature of Quicken I care about.

	What would the possibilities be of getting something like
	this into a future release?  Without I feel I'm pretty 
	much trapped in Quicken.  I'd be willing to contribute
	some code ideas which may or may not be consistent with
	the way GnuCash is designed, but hopefully it's a starting
	point which will further explain what I'm talking about.

There's a lot to the old adage "You catch more flies with honey than 
with vinegar!"  You came out swinging and reeking of vinegar and we 
reacted in kind.

So, I apologize if you've been offended by our tone.  We really 
shouldn't have stooped down to that level.  However, perhaps in the 
future, you may wish to choose your words a little more carefully.
-- 

Seeya,
Paul
----

			  God Bless America!

	...we don't need to be perfect to be the best around,
		and we never stop trying to be better. 
		       Tom Clancy, The Bear and The Dragon