RE: Flame - Apology

["Christopher P Swider" <cswider@xxxxxxx>]

Hi Irl and all,

You're right, I wasn't aware that I was flaming a whole bunch of users.  I
thought 'hpcomm@xxxxxxxxxxxx' was just a number to call after the web site's
FAQ didn't answer your question...

So I apologize for my nastygram to all of you, as I did personally to Mitch
Davis yesterday (see attached note).  I guess I was just expecting a note
confirming that my inquiry was received and being looked into.  But perhaps
that's not how it works when software is Open Source and not supported by a
dedicated (and paid!) tech support group.  It seemed that my problem *must*
have been experienced by others, especially since the solution was so
simple!  I felt snubbed, but it turns out I was the guilty party when I let
my frustration get the best of me.

So a thousand pardons, and keep up the good work.
-Chris Swider

-----Original Message-----
From: Irl_W_Smith@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:Irl_W_Smith@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2000 7:50 AM
To: cswider@xxxxxxx
Subject: Flame


Dear Chris,
You may be unaware that when you vent your perhaps justifiable anger at the
"complete.org" bulletin board you are flaming a whole bunch of us who are
just users.
--Irl Smith

--- Begin Message ---

To:	"Mitch Davis" <mjd@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject:	RE: Thanks for nothing!!
From:	"Christopher P Swider" <cswider@xxxxxxx>
Date:	Mon, 24 Jan 2000 17:56:38 -0600

Gosh, Mitch, now don't I have egg all over my face!

Apologies for the nastygram, but I guess I was just expecting something
confirming that you did receive my note and were looking into it...  That's
all.

That and this was really frustrating me, especially since it worked once and
then failed thereafter.  I was also surprised that no one else on the
newsgroup offered any help on this whatsoever - certainly I can't be the
only one to run into this situation!  So when I didn't hear back from you
guys, I felt hung out to dry.

I guess we all need to remember that patience is a virtue.   0:)

Thanks for your patience with me, and thank you for your positive feedback
and insight.

Perhaps I will go after that source code when I have a bit more time myself,
-Chris

-----Original Message-----
From: mjd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:mjd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of
Mitch Davis
Sent: Monday, January 24, 2000 5:40 PM
To: Christopher P Swider
Cc: hpcomm@xxxxxxxxxxxx; mjd@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Thanks for nothing!!


Christopher P Swider wrote:
>
> As I posted to "comp.sys.hp48" today, I've found a solution to the problem
I
> described to you in detail below: just clear the stack!!

Dear Chris,

I congratulate you on finding this, and I appreciate you telling me.

> Would it have been that hard for you all to tell me that?

I had no idea what the problem might have been, but since
you've taken the time to tell us, we will keep this in mind
for the future if other people have the same problem.
You've done us a great service.

> I guess I don't understand why you people put your email
> addresses on the web if you don't reply to people who write you?

I apologise for not replying to you.  I have been extremely busy
at work.  Nevertheless I did pass your mail onto the person who
is coordinating the bug fixing.  We had no idea what the problem
may be, but we certainly were prepared to act on it.

> And your software should still be robust enough to handle longer command
> processing by the HP49G due to a full stack!

Since this software is given away free, it makes HP no money.
So it's very hard to get HP to put engineers onto the job of
really polishing it.  That's one of the reasons we made it
Open Source.

Because the source code is available, you are more than welcome
to take it and change it (or help us change it) so it handles this
problem better.  If you want better software, the key is in
your hand.

Regards,

Mitch.
--
| mailto:mjd@xxxxxxxxxx       | Not the official view of: |
| mailto:mjd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx | Australian Calculator Opn |
| Certified Linux Evangelist! | Hewlett Packard Australia |

--- End Message ---