I’ve spent my adult life building a reputation of honesty— you may not like what I say… but you can trust the source. I also generally work and associate with people whom I can trust (which just kind of makes sense).
In open source VoIP, we tend to be an honest group of people. As with open source itself, we work in a more transparent nature than others may be used to.
I don’t want some pretty face to tell me pretty lies. All I want is someone to believe.
Billy Joel
Of course, every community has it’s exceptions and there are some degrees of honesty as well. Saying you’ll call someone back and then not doing so (for whatever reason legitimate or not) is not something I’d consider dishonest– reliability sure, but I surely wouldn’t call it dishonest.
Maybe it’s from too many Happy Days reruns as a kid, but my reputation means something to me. So, when my honesty or integrity is questioned— well I take it very personally.
Don’t take this the wrong way… I know my shit stinks and it’s important to be called out when mistakes are made. This goes to integrity. I’ve always believed, and hopefully those that know me agree, that when I make a foul, I raise my hand. If there was a screw up I made, there’s no cover up. There is simply an admission.
It’s how we grow and improve.
I’m okay with faults being addressed. I’m not the most patient man in the world (to say the least) and I’m also one to immediately call out when someone is not answering a question, giving a BS answer, or just flat out incompetent.
There are of course many ways you can question someone’s honesty or integrity… omission of details, misrepresentation of facts, taking credit undeservedly, gross exaggeration, and so forth.
When you use these methods to question someone’s honesty and integrity… you better make sure you have the proof to back it up.
The easiest way to lose an honest friend/co-worker is to attack that honesty/integrity. If you need to, make sure (1) you’re right and (2) you can back it up.