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this post was submitted on 30 Jul 2025
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this developer is a big prick. i had an issue (that turned out to be user error after getting help from another source) with the android version of duckstation so went to their discord for support. instead of offering any aid or insight, i was immediately stereotyped as "an android user" and told "we don't offer tech support for android" basically for no other reason than "because android users bitch too much and then give you a bad review," which is just kind of insane imo? there's no downside to bad reviews like you're not going to get delisted? anyways, completely not surprised to hear this from that ass. it genuinely seems like this guy hates developing duckstation at all and i am confused why he bothers. give it up man, sounds like you'll be happier
"I don't want to get bad reviews so I'm going to be a massive dick to my users"
Sounds like someone who uses Windows and is annoyed that anyone else uses anything other than Windows.
I dunno about anyone else, but that's a giant red flag for me when it comes to software devs
Eh, I use Linux and am annoyed at issues from users on other systems. I don't know Windows dev very well, so fixing issues on Windows is a pain for me. Likewise for macOS.
So I get it.
That said, the proper way to handle this is to make it explicit what platforms are supported and which are not, accept fixes for unsupported platforms that don't break supported platforms, close issues related to packaging and whatnot on other platforms, and leave open and ignore issues for unsupported platforms. Let the community support what they want, and focus on what you want.
This sounds like there were several users berating you, not (just) the developer?
It's a tricky one. You can't ban every user from your Discord just for being condescending.
The developer also had a massive drama with RetroArch because, wait for it... "RetroArch users complain too much!" so that's actually a common sentiment coming from them and it's absolutely not restricted to Linux. He hates Linux users, Android users, RetroArch users... at this point I wonder why even publish this as a public user facing project at all, he clearly hates users.
In his defense, a LOT of emulator maintainers have this sentiment about RetroArch, so I can't fault him too much for that one in particular.
I do get the sense this is more common with emulators in general.
Then release your emulator as a paid app for iOS with a closed source and go nuts. Otherwise it's like going out naked during a rainy day and shouting you're getting wet.
Agreed really, but less about the RetroArch part and more just in general with the way this person in particular is. In my mind, if you're not ready to be able to turn the project over to the community to maintain instead of yourself because you're as much of a controlling prick as this guy, then you should never make it even source-available and should just keep it private source.
What is the problem with retroarch ? Am curious.
I've seen multiple emulator devs frustrated with how demanding the project itself is, but moreso toxic behavior from the lead developer towards emulator devs and users alike. Can't handle any kind of even constructive criticism worth a damn and when people understandably are frustrated by him lashing out he then turns it back around to say they're out to get him.
I've seen this, some server Admins and mods actually encourage the behavior via modeling. They do it once and that gives permission to the other users to act similarly. Becoming a cultural problem with the whole server. Then they don't ever correct or moderate the behavior, further encouraging it.
Sounds like hes just tired of dealing with idiots.
Which I can sympathise with.
Who forces him to respond to such messages on Discord? He can just not engage with people of whom he thinks are idiots.
If he doesn’t want to engage with users at all, maybe not set up a Discord in the first place.
No. Some people just simply can't ignore that shit. Why can't those users just not post asinine comments.
So not setting up a Discord in the first place is not an option because some people are so desperate to get feedback even though they are annoyed by feedback?
Eg., Phil Fish of FEZ and Indy game: the movie fame is another who seems unable to ignore negative feedback and massively overreacts to it.
I mean, he's not wrong, plenty of pre-release games allow you to download before it's out, then android users go and give it 1 star because the servers aren't open yet.
Can you help me underatand where you proved him wrong?
Who said he was wrong? He basically guaranteed that android users will respond that way by refusing to support them, thus ensuring he will always be right about them
He's not obligated to provide that support. But the tone sure makes it seem expected.
He's not obligated to provide support but there are infinitely many ways for decline providing support without insulting someone for being an Android user, and insulting Android users in general, at the same time, literally the moment when someone sought for support.
Especially when Discord is not even inherently a support platform to begin with, Discord is a fricking instant massaging platform, this is fundamentally no different from insulting a stranger on the street the moment they started a conversation, with the most BS insult ever.
Too many FOSS users are toxicly entitled... It ruins things for everyone.
It isn't toxic* entitlement to seek tech support on the platform the developer offers tech support on.
Edit: added "toxic" for clarification
Why wouldn't I be entitled to tech support if they're offering tech support?
I meant it's not "toxic entitlement" like the other commenter I replied to claimed. Edited my original comment to hopefully be clearer.
No, but carrying the grudge this long and vocally leaves me to wonder if the story is as crisp as put forth.
And FOSS die hards put many people off of lemmy early on.
Seek? Yes. Expect? No.
Carrying a grudge? "This long and vocally"? Who? How?
And I'll say it again - it isn't toxic entitlement for users to expect to receive support on the platform they've been told to use to receive support. I'm not sure how you can argue differently, unless you twist words to the point of meaninglessness.
You are the only one here carrying on a grudge and being vocal about it.
Are you a big fan of FOSS? How much are you going to support FOSS developers today hmmm?
No. Every time FOSS comes up on Lemmy, FOSS adherents remind me why I'd never dip my toe in that mess.
I use some open source, but I also pay to support it, so I'm not true FOSS. See: Home Assistant. I contribute to the support at times, and I'm familiar with the frustrations - and the need to be consistently cordial. And thick skinned.
For all you know you're talking to someone on the spectrum. Perspective matters.
Too many FOSS devs are toxically entitled... It ruins things for everyone.
Remember developers are also users and all users suck.
This guy's an a****** and is complaining when people treat him like an a****** he has no need to share his project if he's free to keep it to himself. But if you go stand on a public Street, share something for free and then b**** at everybody who comes up to you. You're the problem, not the user
It's more than just FOSS users. It's "The Internet" in general. At least two of the modding scenes I've been in have had multiple developers (and artists and translators) just quit due to their users aggressively complaining about the stuff they give away for free.
Of course, it doesn't get that much better when people have to pay for things -- ask customer service representatives how much toxicity they see from unsatisfied customers.
What are they entitled to? And how is it toxic?
Entitled to nothing. Toxic by acting like they are entitled and now a slew of other people are toxic about a FOSS dev.
But we sure do love FOSS, am I rite?
It's like introspection or game theory mean nothing to people...
And android users are not obligated to give a good review after not receiving support.
I have no problem with his actions, (if he doesn’t have the resources/energy/time to support on all platforms, who can complain about that?), but I don’t think he’s very good at the whole communicating with other humans part of software that sadly in the OSS world tends to fall on the same devs that do the work, he could have avoided both this comment thread and the angry android user above with zero extra effort by simply phrasing things better.
The particular poor phrasing he chose seems to imply to me that he’s lumping all users of each platform together in his head, and each negative interaction builds on the previous, which isn’t the healthiest attitude, and does indeed make him look like an arsehole to anyone who’s just turned up and hasn’t yet done anything wrong.
No, but the app will inevitably have bad reviews on Android because it will not be as good - both technically and in terms of "customer service".
FOSS can't usually compete with big tech in this area and it is one of the biggest drawbacks to FOSS in general. You are on your own.
I don't think you get it. He probably enjoys creating, and achieving something awesome. He has no obligation to deal with entitled users of what he gives away
Then he really shouldn't have a discord server where he offers tech support.
It's one thing to not give anyone lemonade, you're never obligated to do that for no reason, however it's another thing to set up a free lemonade stand and tell whoever tries to get lemonade that they're annoying and to go away.
If he only wants to create something and not deal with any user issues, he could just do that. Going out of his way to tell users to fuck off is extra work he could just not do and everyone would be happier
You mean "self-entitled". "Entitled" means that you actually are owed something. It's like the difference between righteous and self-righteous.
Merriam Webster seems to agree with me.