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Comment by _jcwu | Hacker News Reader

And what is the issue with just telling them that it could take a lot of work, so probably not? Why does it bother you if someone says thanks? It does not put you in any obligation to do anything...

I do not understand your point of view. Should we stop saying thanks in our daily life? Because it does not really do anything for anyone....

To me the following two messages give off two totally different vibes:

'Hi, can you implement <Feature that takes a month of work>? Thanks!'

'Can you implement <Feature that takes a month of work>?'

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I do tell them i) whether it is on the roadmap ii) what would need to be done.

The reason it bothers me because it sounds like an order to someone who is delivering a service for you, e.g. 'Can I have another drink? Thanks!'? That's not a 'thanks'.

That's a good point. You got me convinced. There are better ways to deliver such a message!

I do think that kind of non-thanks is very different from what the article is talking about though. One is asking you to do something, and the other isn't. The only thing they have in common is the literal word "Thanks".

> 'Hi, can you implement <Feature that takes a month of work>? Thanks!'

and

> 'Can you implement <Feature that takes a month of work>?'

Are very differently loaded questions! The first one very much indicates no concern about the implementers time, and is very often seen coming from people that have no idea the complexity of the work involved with the "Thansk!" indicating the implementer would automatically accept it regardless of their own priority, while the second one is way more innocent and open for a reply back with "not sure if I have time for that atm".

EDIT: In short, it's a matter of etiquette, the same way nobody wants to deal with a complete fucking asshole (sorry, personal scars here...).

Agreed, the "thanks" feels a bit like the user have "paid" for the feature simply by giving an upfront thanks. The thanks is for the new feature, not for the _existing_ features.

Something like:

> I really like NAME-OF-PROGRAM. Thanks for making it! > > One thing that would make it even better for me would be FEATURE-X. What do you think?

would be much better.

Putting some effort into the request/suggestion also helps. Eg. giving a well written rationale/use case. Saying why existing-feature-Y isn't enough, etc.

I don't know. When I get bugreports, I usually prefer people who cut to the chase instead of wasting my time with salutations.

Only on hacker news can "Thanks!" be interpreted negatively... jesus...

In the first one the thanks seem insincere because it's asking for something.

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