[johnny_reilly]

So I'll say that saying "thank you" is a highly valuable activity. It boosts people's spirits and makes them feel appreciated. Remember: we're humans and somewhat touchy feely. Gratitude is motor oil for us.

Also, tragically the world is wired to provide feedback mostly of the negative kind. This is useful to receive but also it's an unfortunate skew. Positive feedback with a few details about what is good are a hugely valuable contribution.

But if you don't have that amount of time, saying "thanks" alone is worth the keystrokes. :-)

[tokyodude]

Sadly (well at least to me) saying "thank you" for example in a github issue is considered next to spam. You can write a long description of an issue or solution and add "thank you" but it's considered a waste to say just say "thank you" when someone sends a small PR.

I disagree with that culture. I'd prefer we all exchanged the small "thank yous" even in github threads, code review, etc... but knowing the majority seem to feel it's spam I find most of the time I feel pressure not to write them.

Maybe a few "leaders" like Linus or whoever came out with "say thank you" would help?