Problem implementing Shibboleth/SAML to authenticate users for Statistical Analysis Systems (SAS)

[Cantor, Scott]

> Your previous responses were none too clear to a novice who does not know
> this environment and you did not reply to one of my key questions, which may
> have helped me along in the right direction, which was asking for a
> definition/perspective of the word 'client' in one of your earlier responses since
> the 'client' in this environment could be one of several entities depending on
> perspective....

I didn't notice that question at the time or I would have clarified that I was referring to the browser.

As for whether you're a novice or not, no, that is irrelevant to how I'm going to answer questions. If you don't understand the answer, then you can ask a follow up, and if I'd noticed that you had, I'd have answered it. Brevity is a better way to make a question stand out, frankly.

> Also, I don't recall addressing my question to you (and I checked).

And I wasn't speaking for anybody else in my response, but I'm the author of the software and I have spent 15 years answering the vast majority of the questions, so pulling back from that responsibility is a major change and I don't take it lightly.

> I had the distinct impression from your previous tone that you had already
> blown me off.

Telling you that I can't keep helping for free is not blowing you off, it's clarifying what I'm prepared to do or not do because of the position of the project with respect to subsidizing my time on support. Nothing in that response was mean or rude or intended as anything other than statement of fact.

> I was under the impression that I was posting to a user community associated
> with Shibboleth where users could share and grow knowledge together.

Nowhere did I say anything about what anybody else might or might not do, but if you think my time is equivalent to anybody else's, sorry, but it's not. Not on some topics anyway.

> Since you know so much and are apparently so annoyed with other people's
> ignorance (which I have noted on more that one post to other people), why do
> you even respond to these?

I respond because historically I was paid and it was my responsibility to do that, and because whether you like my tone or not, it takes me a limited amount of time to answer a simple question as long as I attach very little importance to whether the other person is happy with a brief answer or not. And I don't.

> And speaking of tone, if you wish to forward this project and have it go
> somewhere, your tone in dealing with others that do not know this software
> (or the IdP/SP/SAML environment) may be something you should think about.

I'm perfectly content with where it's gone, and I'm long past caring what people think about my "tone". I won't bother to answer you in the future if you care about being coddled and not answered.

-- Scott