[kdepim-users] Identities in Kmail

[Paul Millar]

Stan,

On Monday 15 September 2008 23:46:37 Stan Goodman wrote:
> At 00:22:01 on Tuesday Tuesday 16 September 2008, Ingo Klöcker
[...]
> > So, in the end, the sad truth is that it doesn't matter whether we
> > listen to our users or not because we simply do not have enough
> > resources to care. Okay, that's a bit too pessimistic. We do listen to
> > you and we do care, but still we can't do much about it. Unfortunately,
> > email clients aren't sexy anymore (if they ever were).
>
> "Sad" is not nearly a strong enough word. "Cop-out" comes to mind.

I'm not sure if you meant it, but this isn't a helpful comment.

Perhaps, you're labouring under a misunderstanding, so I'm writing to help 
clarify some potential confusion.

By using "cop-out", you suggest that Ingo, and other developers, do not fix 
bugs mentioned in this mailing list voluntarily, but rather from some kind of 
duty to you, or because he has been assigned that task by someone (see [1]).  
Perhaps you are paying Ingo money for fixing bugs in kmail but, as this is a 
public forum, I'd have thought that unlikely.

[1]  http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cop-out

From reading your emails, there seems some confusion about what Free software 
(or Open-source, depending on your philosophy) is about.  It's relatively 
common amongst people new to the "scene".  If so, may I point out the 
following:

	1. 	kmail is Free and Open-source software (as it's available under a
		Free and O/S license),

	2.	usually, this means you can get the software for no money cost
		(although this isn't a requirement),

	3.	if you find a "bug", something where the software doesn't behave
		correctly, ultimately you have four options:

		a.  learn to live with it,
		b.  fix the bug yourself,
		c.  persuade someone to fix it,
 		d.  use a different software package.

		(that's two more options that proprietary software typically provides)

Option c. might (or might not) involve money: often you can pay someone to fix 
a particular issue.  This may be based on contract, by providing a 
software "bounty", or some other incentive.

If option c. doesn't involve money then you might persuading people (such as 
Ingo) who, acting out of good will, will often fix problems in software they 
care about.  Surprisingly, this will often work if the people have spare 
time.  You can help the process by explaining the problem on a mailing list, 
filling out accurate bug reports, being polite, etc.

I sympathise with Ingo here.  I have several projects that I simply do not 
have enough spare time to work on.  One must prioritise what needs doing.  
The only person who is authorised to set Ingo's priority for working on kmail 
(either different tasks within kmail, or against other activity) is himself 
and I am very grateful for his, and other's, work on kmail.

Cheers,

Paul.
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