[kde-doc-english] kompare is sweet!!!!

[Eric Reischer]

My "bluster" was not with the problem in that it didn't work in KDE < 
3.4, but with the extreme lack of documentation for it.  If it wasn't 
capable of doing what its interface implied, this should be outright 
stated in the documentation, rather than needing to be determined 
experimentally.  I'm confident I'm not the first person to trip over 
something like this, and I'm sure I won't be the last.  A simple 
sentence stating that it does nothing to modify files would have 
sufficed though and saved my time.

I find no fault in the programmers though (other than putting an 
inoperative button on the toolbar); I'm a programmer and I know stuff 
like that slips through the cracks.  I did find fault, however, that 
apparently through 3 releases of KDE this thing is still left 
undocumented.  It's little problems like this that CEOs and CTOs like to 
point at when looking for excuses to use Windoze rather than Linux.  XP 
doesn't work worth a damn, but it's documented out the ass.  Linux 
(usually) outperforms, outlasts, and overshadows MS products when it 
comes to functionality, but the everyday end-user doesn't want to simply 
"figure out" how to use a piece of software; they want a manual to tell 
them how to use it.  This is the harsh reality of the computer world: 
it's dominated by incompetent people who simply memorize a ritual and go 
about it every day; the first second something changes they're confused 
to all hell and push the "Help" button hoping to find a solution to 
their exact problem.  You'll never get the world to accept a 
non-Microsoft-dominated world unless you show them how to work without it.

Cheers

Aaron Seigo wrote:

>On February 15, 2005 11:04, Eric Reischer wrote:
>  
>
>>[File->Save All]  Cool, so my changes should be applied to my
>>destination tree now.  Oh wait, wtf, my destination tree is unmodified.
>>Ok, maybe the source tree..........nope.  Ok, is there a diff file?
>>    
>>
>
>first, you'll be happy to know that this works properly in KDE 3.4. i'm sorry 
>you wasted some time and felt frustrated.
>
>second, in future you may wish to visit bugs.kde.org and file reports there 
>against the application that has the problem rather than posting on the 
>documentation list where such problems are not very likely to be addressed in 
>an effectual manner.
>
>but before you go barreling off to bugs.kde.org next time, out of 
>consideration for the people who put so much time and effort into this 
>software and who will be on the receiving end of your bluster, you may want 
>to take a few breaths and calm down a bit first. it's never fun to have 
>someone yell at you, but it is appreciated when someone provides useful 
>feedback in a constructive manner even if that feedback is "this is broken 
>and here is how/why". =)
>
>have a great day.
>
>  
>

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