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GitHelp – Ask the authors

githelp.io

11–20 of 32 posts

Re: GitHelp – Ask the authors

#11

Hey there, Thanks for checking us out :) We have multiple goals we want to achieve with GitHelp, the first one is helping busy open source maintainers to manage all the questions and support requests that comes to them from different sources like GitHub issues, Twitter, Mailing lists, StackOverflow, forums, or even requests for audio and video conversation in one place. You can think of it as ZenDesk for open source…

You seem to setting up for every project on Github. Can I as a project owner opt my project out of this?

I've just had bad experiences before with companies that tried to lever off existing communities that didn't want them.

If your product really is great, then you shouldn't have any worries about offering an opt-out because very few people will use it.

Re: GitHelp – Ask the authors

#12

This service has been spamming developers, harvesting emails from open source repos and then emailing them, advertising the service. Really not cool. Even though it looks like quite a cool service, honestly I wouldn't use them on principle. Here's the email I received: http://i.imgur.com/Kf9Nv3F.png

We were not advertising, we're inviting the hackers to join if they are interested to send they help requests from their communities based on their contributions.

We understand that it's not acceptable by some people and that's why we're going to change that.

Re: GitHelp – Ask the authors

#13

This service has been spamming developers, harvesting emails from open source repos and then emailing them, advertising the service. Really not cool. Even though it looks like quite a cool service, honestly I wouldn't use them on principle. Here's the email I received: http://i.imgur.com/Kf9Nv3F.png

We were not advertising, we're inviting the hackers to join if they are interested to send they help requests from their communities based on their contributions. We understand that it's not acceptable by some people and that's why we're going to change that.

rgt said

Re: GitHelp – Ask the authors

#14

This service has been spamming developers, harvesting emails from open source repos and then emailing them, advertising the service. Really not cool. Even though it looks like quite a cool service, honestly I wouldn't use them on principle. Here's the email I received: http://i.imgur.com/Kf9Nv3F.png

We were not advertising, we're inviting the hackers to join if they are interested to send they help requests from their communities based on their contributions. We understand that it's not acceptable by some people and that's why we're going to change that.

Well that is advertising. You run the service, you're emailing people to tell them about the service. You phrased it in a way that implied it was doing the developers a favour (and I'm sure that you feel that you are - your software looks good) but nevertheless, it's advertising.

It's also spamming. Harvesting email addresses from people contributing to open-source isn't cool. I'm glad to hear you'll be changing that.

I know it's competitive out there but your app looks good, let it speak for itself. You don't need to stoop this low.

Re: GitHelp – Ask the authors

#15

This service has been spamming developers, harvesting emails from open source repos and then emailing them, advertising the service. Really not cool. Even though it looks like quite a cool service, honestly I wouldn't use them on principle. Here's the email I received: http://i.imgur.com/Kf9Nv3F.png

We were not advertising, we're inviting the hackers to join if they are interested to send they help requests from their communities based on their contributions. We understand that it's not acceptable by some people and that's why we're going to change that.

> we're inviting the hackers to join

I invite you to look at my widget!

I invite you to look at my viagra pills!

I invite you to take this unclaimed money in Nigeria!

Re: GitHelp – Ask the authors

#16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We were not advertising, we're inviting the hackers to join if they are interested to send they help requests from their communities based on their contributions. We understand that it's not acceptable by some people and that's why we're going to change that.

Well that is advertising. You run the service, you're emailing people to tell them about the service. You phrased it in a way that implied it was doing the developers a favour (and I'm sure that you feel that you are - your software looks good) but nevertheless, it's advertising. It's also spamming. Harvesting email addresses from people contributing to open-source isn't cool. I'm glad to hear you'll be changing that…

Thank you for your feedback, and I hope we see you on GitHelp someday :)

Re: GitHelp – Ask the authors

#17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We were not advertising, we're inviting the hackers to join if they are interested to send they help requests from their communities based on their contributions. We understand that it's not acceptable by some people and that's why we're going to change that.

> we're inviting the hackers to join I invite you to look at my widget! I invite you to look at my viagra pills! I invite you to take this unclaimed money in Nigeria!

I got what you're saying

Re: GitHelp – Ask the authors

#18

This service has been spamming developers, harvesting emails from open source repos and then emailing them, advertising the service. Really not cool. Even though it looks like quite a cool service, honestly I wouldn't use them on principle. Here's the email I received: http://i.imgur.com/Kf9Nv3F.png

Was there an unsubscribe link in the email? I've had other annoying services claim they didn't need it, but they were making money off their service, soliciting developers and were in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act.

Re: GitHelp – Ask the authors

#19

This service has been spamming developers, harvesting emails from open source repos and then emailing them, advertising the service. Really not cool. Even though it looks like quite a cool service, honestly I wouldn't use them on principle. Here's the email I received: http://i.imgur.com/Kf9Nv3F.png

Was there an unsubscribe link in the email? I've had other annoying services claim they didn't need it, but they were making money off their service, soliciting developers and were in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act.

Nope, that's the full email in that screenshot. No unsubscribe link.

Re: GitHelp – Ask the authors

#20

This service has been spamming developers, harvesting emails from open source repos and then emailing them, advertising the service. Really not cool. Even though it looks like quite a cool service, honestly I wouldn't use them on principle. Here's the email I received: http://i.imgur.com/Kf9Nv3F.png

We were not advertising, we're inviting the hackers to join if they are interested to send they help requests from their communities based on their contributions. We understand that it's not acceptable by some people and that's why we're going to change that.

What is the definition of advertising according to you?
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