Strawman Mockery

Creating a fictional naive person to mock rather than engaging with actual participants in the discussion.

• '"But I bought it!" - naive customer somewhere'
• "Meanwhile some developer thinks this is revolutionary."
• "Cue the 'works on my machine' crowd."
• "I can already hear the 'just use Rust' people."

Why It's Unproductive

Mocks an imaginary person who isn't part of the discussion instead of engaging with what people are actually saying. It might feel cathartic and others might relate to the frustration, but it shifts the conversation from substance to performative sarcasm. Often stems from genuine frustration with common bad takes, but the mockery doesn't help anyone learn or change their mind.

The Better Move

• "The shift from 'you own it' to 'you license it' has really changed customer expectations."
• "It's frustrating how products we pay for can become unusable without our control."
• "The disconnect between 'buying' software and what that legally means trips up a lot of users."
• "Many people don't realize that purchasing software is usually just a license, not ownership."

Why It's Better

Addresses the actual issue (licensing confusion, SaaS models, etc.) without creating straw people to ridicule. Treats the problem as something to understand or solve rather than something to mock.

Example

OP: "Microsoft's cloud integration locked me out of Notepad due to an account bug."

Antipattern reply: '"But I bought it!" - naive customer somewhere'

Better: "The shift from local software to cloud-dependent features creates these risks. It's frustrating to lose access to basic tools due to account issues."