[Xfce4-commits] r29004 - in xfce4-mixer/trunk: . panel-plugin xfce4-mixer

[Stephan Arts]

On Wed, Dec 10, 2008 at 11:25 PM, Brian J. Tarricone <bjt23 at cornell.edu> wrote:
> Just a few notes..
>
> <SNIP>
>
>> -      gtk_label_set_markup (GTK_LABEL (label2), _("No controls are marked
>> as visible. Please open the <span size='large'><b>Select Controls</b></span>
>> dialog to select some."));
>> +      gtk_label_set_markup (GTK_LABEL (label2), _("No controls are marked
>> as visible. Open the <span size='large'><b>Select Controls</b></span> dialog
>> to select some."));
>
> There's no reason to remove the "please" here.  Being polite never hurts, as
> long as it's not overused.  More a personal style thing, I guess.
>
>        -brian

I think there is a good reason NOT to use 'please' (I do it all the
time... but stay with me on this one)

Generally, neither we, nor the programs we write care about how a user
handles a piece of software. We can however, advise a user to take
certain actions to achieve a described result which we think they are
most likely to desire. 'If you want to perform action X, it is
required that Y is configured correctly'. instead of 'Please configure
Y, or X wont work'.

Yet, being polite by making the system say please whenever something
is required by the user seems weird.

But maybe that's just me, I like a system that tells me whats wrong
without adressing me personally.

-
Stephan