my wife, downloading some astronomy software that makes you accept the GNU GPL in its installer: "I'm actually really looking forward to using this, it sounds really cool"

Graham Sutherland / Polynomial

it crashed so we're stopping for a pizza break

Graham Sutherland / Polynomial

if I'm being honest this software has a UI polish in the top 10% of what I've seen from GPL software. it doesn't look like an enterprise java app from 2001, and it isn't particularly cluttered. if it wasn't abysmally slow and didn't have completely weird shortcut keys and actually had a manual that was correct and up to date, it'd be pretty exceptionally good for open source science software. but for normie users (and my wife is far better than the average at this) it's still super high friction

Graham Sutherland / Polynomial

this thread escaped containment and now FOSS zealots are harassing me so I'm muting this thread. anyone who tries to sealion at me is catching a block.

being unable to take the slightest criticism of user experience in open software is why it all fucking sucks to use and you are 100% the problem. go jerk off in a lake.

✧✦✶✷Catherine✷✶✦✧

@gsuberland your definition of "harassment" is preposterous btw

if you can dish it out but can't take a single matter-of-fact message back then it's on you. block me i don't give a shit

Graham Sutherland / Polynomial

@whitequark huh? I got a dozen shitty messages from people. I didn't even see a reply by you.

Ryan Castellucci :nonbinary_flag:

@gsuberland @whitequark I was curious and tried to find replies to you and can't even see any. Are threads even harder than cache invalidation?

Graham Sutherland / Polynomial

@ryanc @whitequark not a clue. I yeeted two of the instances it came from to the blocklist so maybe that's part of it.

Ryan Castellucci :nonbinary_flag:

@gsuberland @whitequark okay, I see one that is utterly deranged now about doing something to a lake, wtf

Graham Sutherland / Polynomial

@ryanc @whitequark some of it also came as subtoot threads inviting others to dogpile, so naturally that wouldn't visibly appear in the replies.

Ryan Castellucci :nonbinary_flag:

@gsuberland @whitequark I guess this is a nice example of the folly of "fedi's not like that, I've never seen that sort of harassment".

Ryan Castellucci :nonbinary_flag:

@gsuberland @whitequark but also, open source zealots are fucking weird, people got really mad at everyone who signed an anti-RMS letter a while back