Glenn Block

Another ALT.NET guy at Microsoft

What's wrong with the ALT.NET lists?

Oren and I were just having one of our many discussions, and we got to the subject of the list. After much thought I realized what the real problem with the lists stems from:

Human beings are in it!

OK, flame on.

Published Jan 05 2008, 02:02 PM by Glenn Block

Filed under: ALT.NET

Comments

Joe Ocampo said:

No flames, just as a matter of fact. :-)

# January 5, 2008 7:55 PM

Jan Van Ryswyck said:

Very right indeed. This is exactly the same problem that planet earth is having: human beings are walking on it!

# January 6, 2008 5:14 AM

Christopher Bennage said:

Human beings are always messing up my stuff; that's for sure.

# January 6, 2008 3:34 PM

It's always easier to tear something down, to be a critic, than it is to build something, to be an author. The trouble with the discourse on the Internet is that it is too full of destruction rather than creation. One of the problems most Internet communities face is that they become paralyzed because they have many people who can see the faults, but few who are willing to rise to the challenge of providing alternatives.

As a community we benefit if someone decides to create an article, open source, or commercial project to solve a problem far more than if they just whine about the issue.

If half of the energy that went into that criticism went into providing a better alternative we would be far better of. Of course the challenge is that not everyone has the resources available to create, but they are unhappy with what has been created. So we do need is to enable those people to provide constructive feedback.

I would suggest the following rule for those people: provide solutions not just problems. If you see something wrong, don't just whine that it is wrong, by itself that has the lowest form of value, but suggest an alternative. Even if you do not have the resources to provide it, someone might. Of course expect to be, in turn, judged on your alternative, but in the same context, with an alternative suggestion.

Finally once you have stated your case, if you and someone else disagree accept that. You will not win the argument just by bombarding your opponent with bytes and you should not take retreat in such circumstances as a sign of victory. They may just have lost patience in engaging with you.

# January 7, 2008 4:09 AM

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About Glenn Block

Glenn is a PM for the new Managed Extensibility Framework in .NET 4.0. Prior to Microsoft, he worked for 10 years in various startups and ISVs wearing many different hats all related to developing software. Glenn has been writing code practically since the time he learned how to ride a bicycle. When he's not writing code, he's continuously improving on ways to build better software. Glenn is a geek at heart and spends a good portion of the rest of this time spreading that geekdom through conferences, and the community through groups such as ALT.NET. When he's not working and playing with technology, he spends his time with his wife and four year old daughter either at their Seattle apartment or at one of the local coffee shops.