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Comment by bunnythefifth | Hacker News Reader

> I would not normally be quite so much of a jerk about the numerous syntax errors, except that this ends with a suggestion that people, you know, pay for this writing. I don't expect perfection (God knows I make tpyos all the time), but the closing paragraph starts with a sentence that literally has no verb.

Are you really bashing the author for imperfect English? The about page clearly mentions that they are not a native speaker of the language, and even apologises for any imperfections in their writing as a result thereof [1].

I strongly agree with your parent comment that attacking the author for presenting their strong views in an area is unnecessary. Make arguments against what they wrote, not who they are.

A little kindness also goes a long way. What the hell is this obsession with hammering everyone down with unwarranted negativity on this forum.

[1] https://unixsheikh.com/about.html

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I didn't read the About page, I read this article. If I'd known that, would I have not been "quite so much of a jerk," to quote myself? Probably. But "that this ends with a suggestion that people pay for this writing" is still something of a sticking point: if I was writing in a language I wasn't fluent in, I would be very hesitant to ask people to give me money based on the strength of my writing. If you decide that such a standard is unreasonable of me and that I'm still an English imperialist or whatever, I'll take the L, I guess.

However, when you rather archly tell me

> Make arguments against what they wrote, not who they are.

I will respond: I did. The vast majority of my arguments were against what they wrote. I took a couple pot shots at how they wrote it. I don't know who they are, and certainly didn't argue against that either way.

> A little kindness also goes a long way.

Does that apply only to critics of the article and not the article itself? Because I don't think you can call the author's tone "kind" by any measure.

Was about to note the same thing. Agreed with GP on all other points, but I forgave the language mistakes after seeing their about page.

FWIW, while I don't condone it, I do think that any non-native speaker should take such criticism as a compliment. It's a sign that they're good enough to pass for native; if they were clearly struggling to write passable English, the reactions would likely be more polite with helpful pointers.

Coming back hours later, I'm going to be a bit harsher on myself: if I had checked the about page, I'd have still commented on the proofing errors, but I wouldn't have been so snarky about it, and I wish I hadn't been.

You're also right in your second paragraph, though -- the article didn't read to me like "this is someone who isn't fluent in English," it read like "this is someone who's fluent in English but tossed this article off quickly, made careless mistakes, and didn't bother to make a proofreading pass."

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