[jasonwatkinspdx]

It's quite clear English is not the primary language of the author, and I think it's in poor taste to criticize grammatical errors that are clearly sourced in this.

English is not an easy second language to learn as an adult, and technical English doubly so.

[falsedan]

These are basic grammar mistakes. Mastery of basic grammar is achievable with a small amount of dedication; if the author does not have the time, they could ask an English-speaking acquaintance to proof-read their docs.

The author's primary (and perhaps only) contact with users is through their documentation. Incorrect capitalization and apostrophe use is distracting and will put off some potential users. The author looks sloppy and uncaring because these types of mistakes are preventable.

Being a non-native speaker is not an excuse for basic errors (excepting novices). Proof-read your docs! If you're not confident in your language skills, ask someone else to!

[runarb]

if the author does not have the time, they could ask an English-speaking acquaintance to proof-read their docs.

I doubt it is the lack of time. But natively English-speaking acquaintance to proof-read technical documentation can be very hard to come by. Most projects have to do by with the folks they have. ( I am in need for such a person myself. If anyone has the time Searchdaimon ( https://github.com/searchdaimon/enterprise-search ) could need some help :) )

One trick can be to at least wikify the documentation so other can easier pitch in.

[jasonwatkinspdx]

To be blunt: do you speak a second language fluently? If not, I don't think you have any idea how much dedication you're demanding.

Instead of bashing someone on hnews comments, you could send them an errata patch.

[falsedan]

The onus is not on me to make this project's documentation presentable: it is on the author. My language skills are immaterial! The author's language skills do not excuse lazy presentation, they only help explain it.

[jasonwatkinspdx]

They are material when you say that the author is being lazy for not writing English better or finding someone to contribute. It implies you don't know the difficulty of what you're asking, so why are you calling him lazy?

But of course you want to make it clear that you feel no obligation to contribute despite your criticism. So it's lazy for him, but not for you?

[falsedan]

The grammatical errors exist regardless of whether I speak one, three, or a hundred languages fluently. Better to ask the number of projects I have documented...

Note I comment exclusively on the author's presentation, not thrir personal behavior: obviously they are not lazy. I have no obligation to contribute, no: ncome from or personal interest in this project. I contribute to the projects which benefit me and people who I care about.

[VikingCoder]

I wish that I had spent more time crafting my initial response. How would you have written my post, so these concepts are clear:

rgbrgb, I agree that it's superficial, but in direct contrast to your praise of the superficial style of the documentation, I was unfortunately distracted by the superficial mistakes in grammar and spelling. I wish someone would take the time to help the author of this code, Dmitry Simonenko, to improve the documentation. To that point, here are my hopefully constructive criticisms specifically of the language used in the documentation. I have performed no audit of the library itself, and cannot speak to its quality.

Does this still come off to you as poor form?

[jasonwatkinspdx]

That's much more reasonable. But I also think it's a waste of time.

The problem with the docs aren't these small gramattical errors. In most cases you cite the meaning is clear, so this is just pedantry.

What bothers me about the documentation is that the explanation of his algorithms is a bit opaque.

But all told, I'd much rather someone contribute than hold back because of concerns about language mastery.

[VikingCoder]

I, like many people, get distracted by easily-corrected mistakes. You can call that a fault of mine, and people like me, but since it's relatively easy to lower the barrier for us to easily consume the material by correcting the language, I think it's worthwhile.