Help me ask why you didn't just
blog.plover.com
Help me ask why you didn't just
1–10 of 363 posts
Re: Help me ask why you didn't just
#2[deleted]
Re: Help me ask why you didn't just
#3Ask an open question, preferably one that doesn’t involve the “why”.
For example,
> What made you realize that sshd wasn’t going to work for you?
Or,
> I‘ve used sshd for similar tasks; what’s your advice for me to get familiar with the differences?
This kind of question helps shift focus on the answerer and enables them to tell their story. It’s unlikely for them to feel insulted if you convey some degree of genuine, honest interest in what they have to say.
Re: Help me ask why you didn't just
#4I don't think the answer lies in phrasing; the best approach I've found is to say little and ask questions around it.
Re: Help me ask why you didn't just
#5I tend to use “How come you you didn’t use x?” Or even “how come X didn’t/wouldn’t work?”, and let my body language and facial expression indicate genuine curiosity,and maybe even perplexion at the scope of problem. I don’t feel Author considered the non verbal ways of communicating intent.
“How come” feels slightly lest antagonistic then simple “why” but that may well be regional differences
Re: Help me ask why you didn't just
#6“Did you consider using `sshd`? Why didn’t it work for you?”
Re: Help me ask why you didn't just
#7"Can you walk me through what you've tried so far?"
Re: Help me ask why you didn't just
#8I usually start with the statement that I'm having trouble understanding the code. "I don't get it". But either way, it is a criticism of the code if I don't get it.
Because truly, that in itself is the failing. If there's an obvious fix for the problem, and it's not obvious to the reader why an alternative approach was chosen, then the developer either failed to use the obvious tool or failed to make it obvious why they chose the alternate tool.
Because the next guy who has to fix bugs in this code might throw it out and use the obvious tool, and if so the code needs better comments or other explanation why that doesn't work here.
Re: Help me ask why you didn't just
#9For the listener it's a good idea not to base your own sense of being or not being a blockhead on the opinions of people who don't know you past one or a bunch of ideas you contributed.
Re: Help me ask why you didn't just
#10My go to for this is "My first thought would be to use sshd here. I assume you've tried that?"