[jech]

That's not my experience. Users naturally get frustrated when I break the software that they rely upon, and sometimes they use strong words, but the resulting conversation is almost always friendly and productive. (There are exceptions, of course, but that's life, right?)

Here's a recent sample, paraphrased for brevity:

Them: this is broken.

Me: no, it's not broken.

Them (a few days later): "I think I must not have tried all the combinations", followed with two pages of transcripts.

Me: "I've just checked the code, and you're right [...] I'm extremely sorry I wasted your time."

Them: "Heh, it's all good. I'm am chuffed you're taking the time to give thoughtful responses with me"

Source: https://github.com/jech/galene/issues/309

[dnh44]

Yeah that makes sense. People will be often more polite when they realise there is a real human on the other side.

But I was referring more to the initial use of strong words coming from frustration.

Just because you deal with it well doesn’t mean you should have to deal with it in the first place, especially when it comes to volunteer work.