[dvfjsdhgfv]

> or even avoid the pronoun completely and use "the user" or whatever.

The problem is in practice it doesn't work and you would end up with monstrosities like "the user should define the user's own preferences in the user's preferences file located in the user's home directory."

[madeofpalk]

No, because we're pragmatic people who (generally) know to not write shit like that? No matter what pronouns (or lack of) you use in that sentence, it's still bad.

I never said "avoid pronouns at all costs", but rather that there are alternatives you can use if it makes sense.