[ptdel]

I've found that not just with open-source but even in the private sector (engineers at big companies can also be extremely prideful and opinionated) I need to essentially treat them with kid gloves, even if they're a 50 year old bearded man.

I acknowledge the merits of their work in the body of my comments, and I posit that I'm merely trying to further refine their already good ideas. Did I mention how good their ideas are? What great ideas that I'd love to contribute to. Each time I get push back I acknowledge the points addressed, and I carefully guide them to realizing that my pull request is in fact their idea, and it's a great idea because all their ideas are great.

for adressing PR comments I usually try to classify them first upon whether or not their filler (meaningless), require addressing (valid questions) or require action (code change). Sometimes issue tags and stuff can also be helpful. I'll typically go back through the comments after fixing stuff, and like a :thumbs-up: to say i read it, and i'll @ them link to the change if it's action required.

It's really tricky man. Even though we all call ourselves engineers--we're all still just humans. Just remember you're dealing with humans and if it comes down to you've got your own fork you maintain--well make it better and then people will use your fork :D