Tavern on the Meta

user234239

9:00 PM

@LaszloPapp 'save the site'? I think the SE network is doing okay - if people do not like an aspect of how it is run, it is up to them to choose to not participate.

Laszlo Papp

UV-D: let us say, I have a different opinion.

Bart

Once again, downvotes happen. What is the big deal? They are fake points. If you see no reason for the downvote, and you've received several upvotes, just move on. Or ultimately ask Meta if they understand what might explain downvotes. Especially in the absence of upvotes.

Laszlo Papp

Bart: I have one -1 answer which I got lately.

it was accepted, and then upvoted.

and then it got -2 without much reasoning.

and still the selected answer.

user234239

@LaszloPapp I am not stating an opinion, I am stating an observation

Bart

Great. So you have been helpful to at least the OP and a voter. So...

Pops

9:02 PM

Well... I'm always sad to see good members of the community leave, especially now that I'm an employee. However, downvoting is a pretty core feature of the platform; not requiring an explanation for downvoting is something that the community has decided on after a great deal of thought and discussion; and we do have mechanisms for people who are actively "cheating" the reputation system.

Laszlo Papp

UV-D: I consider that an opinion as my observations are different.

user234239

@Pops well, most of the time ;)

Laszlo Papp

Bart: I do not wanna be helpful to one person when SO is checked by millions.

Bart: clearly a -1 for an accepted answer is bad reputation for the site

moreover, it frigthens away people from the potentially correct answer.

I wanna be useful for many people.

that is why I came to SO.

That is the only reason.

Bart

If your answer is really good, it will ultimately reach a positive score. The occasional outlier notwithstanding.

And you can't please them all

Laszlo Papp

I disagree with that.

user234239

9:05 PM

@LaszloPapp not really - it is one question out of millions, and it is good that you helped that person - and many more over time

Laszlo Papp

my answer is ultimately good if you ask around on the technical mailing list.

yet, it is now a -1.

Pops

Why aren't those people voting it up?

Laszlo Papp

I am the developer of the stuff.

for what I commented.

Bart

So? Nothing prevents it from gaining votes in the future. And if it's really all that good, it will.

Laszlo Papp

because they dislike SO, they are not here.

no, I doubt it.

in fact, I see a mass effect on SO at several places as well.

Bart

9:07 PM

Mass effect?

Pops

Do they dislike the system or the users? Both? Something else?

Laszlo Papp

This is the reason why I joined SO a bit more than three weeks ago for Saturday helping out of my leisure time:

1) Be useful with my expertise for many people

2) Clean up all the crap available on this site

Pops

Bart is describing how the system is supposed to work, and when smart people are the ones doing the voting, that's how it does work.

Laszlo Papp

Pops: they dislike the SO model how it operates.

that includes users, too, yes, but the main problem is the "management" for them.

Bart

Care to expand on that? What do they dislike about the SO model? How do they think it operates?

(And are they former users?)

Laszlo Papp

9:09 PM

Pops: it is clearly not smart people doing the voting at times. That is why many think it is not really about meritocracy either.

user234239

meritocracy?

Laszlo Papp

yes, they say it is democracy, not democracy

and it is not merit, just popularity what is happening around votes.

Bart

Popularity in what sense?

Laszlo Papp

vote is popularity

not merit.

anyone can vote up, pretty much.

Bart

Still, popularity in what sense? Are you saying there is no correlation between the quality of answers users provide and the reputation they have?

Laszlo Papp

9:12 PM

anyway, I am planning to submit two proposals before my leave or break:

1) Mandatory reason for downvote even if just +1 to the previous.

2) Answer vote

Bart

Might I advice you to really think about the first proposal and reconsider it?

Or at least do extensive research

Don't rehash what's out there

Laszlo Papp

Bart: correct, quality is far from merit, indeed.

Bart

Otherwise you're going to end up disgruntled

Laszlo Papp

Bart see my selected answer with -1 as the developer of the stuff, the person behind it.

Bart

Link please

Laszlo Papp

9:14 PM

Bart: I reconsidered this many times already.

but I feel the same pain from day to days, and I am getting frustrated, that must be a sign something is not going right.

Bart

Yet I don't think you're getting what I'm advising and why I'm advising it.

And perhaps you getting frustrated is not so much a sign of the site needing to change, but you needing to step back a bit and not taking all of this so seriously.

Laszlo Papp

Bart: I am not going to b disgruntled for much ... today was a fun spoiling day for me here, and I am seriously considering the leaving, at least for a bit. That is probably unfortunate for the site when experts leave though.

user234239

@LaszloPapp feel free to post what you wish, but as Bart has said, this topic has come up many times and unless it is groundbreaking new and profound - it will get downvoted (=disagreement on meta) and ultimately not implemented.

Pops

What Bart is saying is that if you just charge ahead, people on Meta will say "this is the same as a dozen other proposals, you didn't do any research/show any respect for our community and just dumped it here" whereas if you have mostly the same point but can show that you did your homework/made an effort, you'll get a much better reception.

Bart

I hate to see any users leave. Whether they are a newbie or an expert.

Laszlo Papp

9:17 PM

UV-D: Well, the history is full of such stuff, like enumeration downvoted several times in python, and then accepted.

UV-D: It is not like it is rare that something is discussed many times, and then once it is not just accepted.

Bart: this site is for experts

Bart: so obviously, they matter, inherently.

Bart

No @LaszloPapp, not really. It's not for the utter beginner. We don't teach how to program. But it's not a site purely for experts

And without questions there are no answers.

Laszlo Papp

Pops: disagreement will not solve the issues happening daily around downvotes, and which demotivating many people.

Bart

And even if we wanted it to be a site for experts, reality has caught up with us.

Laszlo Papp

Bart: it is the site mission that is for experts....

expert questions and answers

experts cannot only answer, but also ask.

SO wanna be a site for experts and professionals.

Bart

I get the impression you have this idealistic idea of what SO would be in a perfect world. Guess what, we're too big. We do all we can to maintain a level of quality, and we do so reasonably well. But you've got to realize how big this site is and how impractical that makes certain operations.

Laszlo Papp

9:21 PM

there was a thread with this reasoning where IMHO the whole was closed unrightfully.

Bart: that is a no excuse for not trying to improve serious shortcomings.

Bart

Once again, link please.

Laszlo Papp

go through my history, it is full of like that

Bart

@LaszloPapp And we're trying to do so every single day. What do you think Meta is trying to achieve?

Laszlo Papp

I do not wanna start pasting out.

we would sit here for the whole weekend.

Bart

I'm sorry, but I won't go through your history to find the one thing you're talking about. If you present a case, present the case.

Laszlo Papp

9:23 PM

Bart: exactly my point, meta should not discourage people from trying to improve it, but quite the opposite.

Bart

How is Meta discouraging it?

Laszlo Papp

"
I get the impression you have this idealistic idea of what SO would be in a perfect world. Guess what, we're too big. We do all we can to maintain a level of quality, and we do so reasonably well. But you've got to realize how big this site is and how impractical that makes certain operations." -> that is a discouragement in my book.

user234239

@LaszloPapp that is cold hard fact

Bart

keep in mind that is just my view. I'm a single users. I'm not SO/SE nor the community

Some might agree, some will disagree

But with thousands of questions coming in each day, with plenty more votes on them, you're putting a big burden on the site pretty fast if all votes have to be moderated.

Laszlo Papp

it does not matter who you are ... I kinda expect encouragement for ideas from anyone.

especially towards newcomers like me.

Bart

9:25 PM

You are free to present your idea. I am free to tell you what I think of them

And my meta experience tells me you should be careful about how you present it

Because you can say anything on Meta, if you are constructive

Laszlo Papp

Perhaps the moderation model of SO is broken then.

if it cannot take up with the good way.

Bart

But it will not tolerate duplicates of duplicates of duplicates.

user234239

@LaszloPapp everyone's ideas are pretty much considered in the same way - whether they are new or veteran

Laszlo Papp

well, moderators do not care about duplicates so often.

user234239

@Bart inception dupes?

Laszlo Papp

9:26 PM

that is another issue with it.

I saw reports marked duplicated without them being eventually duplicated.

Bart

What? How do moderators not care about duplicates?

Yeah, more or less @UV-D :)

Laszlo Papp

Perhaps, we should stop it because the negative experience just keeps coming up.

Bart

Negative experience?

user234239

@Bart I wonder if there is a record of how many dupes of dupes of dupes etc there are...

Laszlo Papp

and how many broken duplicated...

Bart

9:28 PM

I'm sure Shog9 will have some glorious graph @UV-D.

Laszlo Papp

where the report is not actually duplicated....

user234239

@Bart I must get that graph!

Laszlo Papp

should I really start giving threads for mishandled or used stuff?

Bart

What are you saying @LaszloPapp? That there are questions closed as duplicates when they should not be? Or that there are questions that should be, but are not?

Welcome to reality.

Laszlo Papp

I can, but we will sit here for really long.

and I have only spend 20 hours maybe on SO altogether

maybe 24

spent*

Bart

9:30 PM

So? Get enough privileges to help us out.

We get thousands of questions each day

Up to 7k at the moment?

Laszlo Papp

Also, this is sad that comments are accepted like "foo is crap" without any explanation and when someone tries to help with flagging it, it is declined.

Bart

That takes an awful lot of community work and moderation to keep it as good as it currently is.

@LaszloPapp Link me to such an example please

If comments are truly offensive, they will be handled

Either by the community, or a moderator.

Laszlo Papp

Bart: privileges with full of downvotes with correct answers?

user234239

@LaszloPapp often posts are flagged by all of us community members... I am flagging low quality and gimme the codez questions on SO as we speak... erm.. type

Laszlo Papp

I hope you see the chicken egg problem.

Bart: I am not sure why you need examples for everything... I am not like lying.

but here you go for the latest anyway

0

A: String to float conversion and formatting

If you insist on using Qt, this is the appropriate code for you: #include <QString> #include <QTextStream> #include <QDebug> using namespace std; int main() { QString floatString = "2.37"; QTextStream floatTextStream(&floatString); float f; floatTextStream >> f; qDebug() <<...

Shog9

9:32 PM

@LaszloPapp It is sad. This is why I encourage folks who have nothing more to add than such a comment to refrain from commenting at all.

Pops

In 24 days of membership, you've exceeded the rep cap three times and earned almost 1250 reputation. I haven't looked at many individual posts yet, but you're clearly getting upvotes.

Laszlo Papp

""main()" is a blunder. " -> OK, so what? No explanation. I marked as unconstructive. It was declined.

he basically sad "foo is bad", and nothing more.

Bart

It's indeed not a great comment.

All you can do in such a situation is either ask "could you clarify?" or move on.

Pops

(And, it should go without saying, being a valuable member of the site, but there, I said it anyways.)

Laszlo Papp

Bart: I did that several times with that person without reaction.

Bart

9:34 PM

So move on

Laszlo Papp

his comments were moderated today as well.

user234239

@Shog9 what is the most amount of dupes of dupes of dupes etc?

Laszlo Papp

move on?

Bart

You can't let every individual bother you

Laszlo Papp

I tried to help to clean the crap, and I am getting declined, and move on? Hell not.

you asked for an example, I gave .... this is very frustrating.

and there are such situations all around.

Bart

9:35 PM

Yes. It's your time and your sanity. If either of those are threatened beyond any acceptable level, move on.

The site is by no means perfect

But we do the best we can.

Laszlo Papp

Pops: you can look at my answers. I try to provide quality, and not 1-2 liners.

Bart

And you simply can't let single users and incidents get to you. It's not healthy towards yourself, and it overlooks the brilliant evaluation you're getting for your contributions overall.

Laszlo Papp

just as I have been doing on IRC and mailing lists....

Bart

Those evaluations also come from the community

Laszlo Papp

and no, I spent 6-8 hours yesterday

and I got 50-60 points

that is ridiculously low.

Bart

9:36 PM

It's easy to remember the negative, but don't forget the overwhelmingly positive.

Shog9

@UV-D can you clarify that?

Laszlo Papp

and more on the edge: one selected answer ended up -1.

Shog9

13

A: What is the most rampant duplicate on Stack Exchange sites?

Since Jarrod spent so much time and effort cleansing the data last week, I figured it'd be a shame not to have some fun with it. Here are the top 30 questions (by # of questions closed as duplicates of them) on SO: 204 Headers already sent by PHP 194 mysql_fetch_arr...

user234239

@Shog9 - just out of curiousity, what is the largest chain of dupes for a topic?

Laszlo Papp

Bart: let me repeat again, "foo is bad" is useless

agree?

Bart

9:37 PM

It is, no argument there

Shog9

@UV-D so dup -> dup -> dup = 3?

Laszlo Papp

I raised a flag for it with that reason.

it got declined.

do you think I should feel nice that I am trying to do my best to help, and that is the "Gratitude"?

user234239

@Shog9 yes, I am curious about the greatest dupe-train

Bart

@LaszloPapp It's a single user. I can see why a moderator would decline the flag. I wouldn't have, but that's my view.

Laszlo Papp

and what is worse, once that stuff is done, people have no easy way to appeal, i.e. to get the review reviewed.

Bart

9:39 PM

But don't let single users define your view of the community

Or of the site as a whole

Shog9

@UV-D probably need someone who knows how to do recursive SQL to answer that one

Bart

All the upvotes and accepts and subsequent reputation you've amassed also comes from the very community. All the appreciation for your work doesn't come out of thin air.

Laszlo Papp

Bart: I could give thousand such examples within 20 hours activity.

user234239

@Shog9 true, very true...lol

Laszlo Papp

or 24.

Bart

9:40 PM

And yet you have a significantly high reputation for your limited participation @LaszloPapp (Limited in time).

Laszlo Papp

even in the very same thread.

I marked an answer with personal insults for deletion. It did not get deleted!

it was edited to a less insult'ish, but still unwelcoming one.

I was very surprised by that action as well.

Bart

Care to link to that @LaszloPapp? If it is there, I'll edit out the insults if necessary.

Laszlo Papp

Bart: "dear downvoter: any comment please how to improve this post? I personally think so far, this is the best way to go for. "

"You have commented on my solution and copy-pasted the same as yours."

Bart

I have read it

That's that user's view. And he's free to vote accordingly

Laszlo Papp

claiming such things as copy-pasted without any evidence?

Bart

9:42 PM

It doesn't make him right

Laszlo Papp

no no

Bart

It doesn't make you wrong

Laszlo Papp

it is about claiming something insulting without any respect and evidence.

some moderator edited the more insulting into this less insulting

user234239

I can not see any insults in those comments

Laszlo Papp

the whole should have been deleted right upfront.

I will not tell it to anyone he copied and pasted, especially when the code has not so much in common.

I would at least provide evidence like I did for my minus one answers when I explained.

oh, you cannot see any insult for saying "dude, you are crap, copied and pasted, but I do not provide evidence"?

user234239

9:44 PM

That is you and more strength to you, but no one is obliged to do so

Laszlo Papp

well, I feel truly insulting to putting someone into that position without any explanation or evidence

user234239

but the member did not say that, that is your interpretation

Laszlo Papp

.See? These are the things why I am considering to leave.

Bart

@LaszloPapp I guess I don't get insulted all that easily. All I do in a situation like that is state that I didn't, and then I shrug and move on.

Laszlo Papp

I write a lot better answer than the guy, and he carelessly accuses me with intentional copy/paste, and I ask for help, and the moderator puts something like that in.

Bart

9:45 PM

It's always a good idea to keep this in mind xkcd.com/386

Laszlo Papp

Bart: you clearly have not read the history behind that thread.

user234239

@LaszloPapp just because someone disagrees with you or does not believe you, does not mean it is an insult, it is just a difference of opinion (which everyone is entitled to)

Bart

@LaszloPapp If there is any information that is currently no longer present, then no, I can't see it.

Laszlo Papp

OK, so I will keep writing to others, hey you copied and pasted

nice, we will have so such a nice and respectful site

with adults around, sigh.

Bart

But I am of the general opinion that the moderation team is doing an excellent job. Are they perfect? Nope. Are mistakes made? Sure. Do I always agree? No. But that happens.

user234239

9:47 PM

For the record, I do not have sufficient rep to downvote, so I upvote what I consider to be very good, unique and something to learn from... (that thread has actually helped me in a way)

animuson

I'm rather inclined to just purge all the comments on both answers...

Laszlo Papp

so claiming "foo is bad" without explanation is not a noise, and is productive?

Bart

@animuson I'd say go ahead. There is not much value in them at the moment

user234239

@animuson probably would be fr the best

Laszlo Papp

Bart: frankly, I flagged the same "foo is bad" again

I am sure it will be declined again.

but I do it for statistics.

to show you how it is not rare.

and that just frankly shows this site is not based on merit.

Bart

9:48 PM

And yet you're still focusing on the exact same single incident.

Laszlo Papp

it is based on popularity and democracy.

animuson

And with that, I am heading off to work.

user234239

@animuson enjoy your work day!

Laszlo Papp

Bart: it is not a single incident, there are several dozens of them

within 20-24 hours.

fully broken treatment all around.

Bart

tadaaaaa @LaszloPapp. Comments cleaned on that question. Thanks to moderation.

Laszlo Papp

9:50 PM

sigh

user234239

@Bart like magic!

Laszlo Papp

my asking for the downvote has been removed

so I need to redo my question

Bart

@LaszloPapp I'll say it one last time: let it go.

Laszlo Papp

thanks for causing extra work

Bart

Don't repost it

Move on

Laszlo Papp

9:50 PM

NO!

I will repeat the millionth time:

user234239

The downvoter does not have to answer to why

Laszlo Papp

Downvoting without explanation is simply stupid, and the site even suggests to leave a comment when you downvote

yeah, you do not have to apologize when you hurt someone either ....

user234239

key word "suggests"

Laszlo Papp

Sigh

about the C++/Qt issues with the other dude's code.

seriously, WTF

user234239

when I upvote, or downvote I do not leave a comment

Bart

9:52 PM

Okay, I'm out @laszlo. We're going in circles. Whether you stay on the site is up to you. If you keep going at it as you are currently though, I can guarantee you won't be around for very long. You'll burn yourself out for no good reason. There is far more positive than there is negative. Have a great day.

user234239

the reason, I do not want to make noise that detracts from the conversation

Laszlo Papp

/me got super pissed off again by getting removed a quality constructive critic and bailing out accordingly to chill out

user234239

I need to go, ironically to vote (elections here in Australia)

Laszlo Papp

Bart: yes, ask for examples, and when people prove it, run away

user234239

when I downvote the government, I don't have to give any reasons either

Laszlo Papp

9:55 PM

UV-D: yes, compare the damn politics to a technical and ethical site which is supposed to be, but hey not.... because it can go as wrong as politics....

Pops

Unless your government is way more functional than mine, that might not be the best comparison....

Laszlo Papp

Pops: +++++++1

user234239

@Pops so true LOL

Laszlo Papp

Bart only cared about asking, but not actually looking into issues ....

0

A: Python to C++ parent equivalent

Your Python code is misleading, to say the least. In PySide—and in Qt/C++ as well—QObjects organize themselves into parent-child trees automatically, but non-QObjects that just happen to have a member named parent do not do that. You most likely wanted Dashboard to be a QObject in Python, and to ...

here is the -1

user234239

Bart looked into the issues, but you did not get the answer you wanted, it happens.

Laszlo Papp

9:57 PM

ask on our qt development mailing list whether that is a nice answer...

UV-D: no, he did not.

UV-D: he looked into only one, and did not bother to check more from my history.

not let us not fade the reality.

user234239

ooh the last answer on that thread just answered one of my questions - thank you for the link @LaszloPapp

Laszlo Papp

2

A: Python to C++ parent equivalent

Your Python code is misleading, to say the least. In PySide—and in Qt/C++ as well—QObjects organize themselves into parent-child trees automatically, but non-QObjects that just happen to have a member named parent do not do that. You most likely wanted Dashboard to be a QObject in Python, and to ...

I just flagged one answer here as non constructive

basically I got pissed off once he removed my technical answers, and tried to explain to get it back with all the options I was aware of.

then everything got deleted, but he left a comment in there, why?

it is useless, especially with mentioning my name, giving bad reputation without the ability to reply.

I highly suggest to consider removing everything there truly, including all his other inline comments.

it is not fair to fire an incapable person to defend who does not even bother to write my name correctly.

user234239

Anyway, @LaszloPapp I have to go get breakfast, vote and then grade a pile of physics papers. Thank you again for that link - the answer from abarnet is very useful to me (have upvoted it)

Laszlo Papp

right, so you actually did not care about helping me with what I was asking for.

so moderators only ask for links, but not actually looking into that to help with?

user234239

I am not a moderator

Laszlo Papp

10:04 PM

who cared here about his answer? That is a clear hijack which just shows disrespect to me.

why do I even bother trying to post links here for requests if then the people do not care?!

UV-D: congratulation, you managed to piss me off even better by the hijacking.

and surely, by mentioning to the person you talk to, the other person's reply is very useful rather than your is surely very friendly.

I am not saying, you should like mine, but telling me thanks because the other person's reply is how good is plain rude.

user234239

well, you got replies, you got people trying to help - meaning they do care - you brushed them off.
I am genuinely thanking you for that link, as it helped me - you are choosing to take it personally

Laszlo Papp

you do not even realize how rude you are....

do you seriously think this is how you talk to people who spend a significant time with something that you tell them into their face how much the other person rocks?

is there an ignore option on chat? I am not willing to listen to such things anymore because they just make me even more sad.

user234239

Look, all I was doing is thanking you for that link, which unintentionally helped another member - I did not say the "other person rocks", but said that their post is helpful. I upvote when I find something helpful - I have not had a chance to read your reply in that thread

Pops

Part of being rude -- and yes, it's only part -- is intent, and I don't think UV-D was being rude intentionally there. But yes, you can ignore other users selectively by clicking on their names/icons.

Laszlo Papp

Pops: it does not matter he intended or not... that does not modify the outcome.

Pops: when you talk to a girl who is competing with another one on a page, you will not tell her that the other is how beautiful.

Pops: do you realize that?

user234239

10:11 PM

@Pops thank you, it was not remotely my intent, I am just very happy that I found an answer to a question I have had for a little while... so while not rude, maybe a tad exuberant

Laszlo Papp

Pops: thanks I ignored him.

Pops

I don't understand your example... but you really wouldn't feel any differently even if he had been intending to insult you?

user234239

I'll read the rest of the thread when I return from breakfast and voting

Laszlo Papp

FFS....

you talk to a lady about beauty issues, and then she shows a page where she and another girl is.

and they are competiting

will you seriously tell her that how much the other lady rocks?

and you think that will do so much good?

do you really do this in real life :O

user234239

apples and oranges

user234239

10:13 PM

(now I am getting hungry)

Pops

Actually, I have, when asked directly. I'm not big on lying.

3

Granted that's not the point you were trying to make.

Laszlo Papp

I highly doubt you will tell it this harshly.

user234239

@Pops - how long have you been with SE?

Pops

@UV-D Two weeks.

Laszlo Papp

or if you do, I am probably better not meeting you face to ace

user234239

10:15 PM

@pops no doubt you're enjoying the work, must be awesome working for SE

Pops

@UV-D Can't complain, that's for sure.

Laszlo Papp

so basically technical comments with explanation can also be removed on SO anytime without any guarantee.

and without any reason.

based on that it happened more than once only just today.

by not someone, but moderators!

user234239

@pops that is awesome!

Laszlo Papp

should I even bother posting more when I know technical posts can be removed anytime like that?

Pops

Yeah, comments are very much second-class citizens here.

Laszlo Papp

10:19 PM

perhaps because the user interface is poorly developed.

it could be managed in a better way not to be a noise.

Pops

It's to encourage people to put useful information in answers, and useless information in somewhere-other-than-the-site.

Laszlo Papp

you are not making sense there.

you cannot put answers when you need clarification, feedback, etc which is clearly not answer material.

user234239

@Pops I am out of here for a while - hope you have a great day, have fun!

Pops

@UV-D See you, thanks!

@LaszloPapp Correct. But why would you need clarification, feedback, etc. other than to improve the answer (which can be done via editing once the info is obtained)?

And then once the edit is made, the comment that led to it is obsolete and can be safely deleted. In theory.

Laszlo Papp

/me has the impression of someone joking

in fact SSO is even encouraging comments due to the voting ...

if I became a moderator one day, I would behave rather differently than quite a few now.

Pops

10:41 PM

You're welcome to run in the next election; by the time it's scheduled, you'll probably have enough rep for it. stackoverflow.com/election

Laszlo Papp

Pops: I have better things to do than moderating this site.

Pops: what is the required rep for it out of curiosity?

Pops

3000

Laszlo Papp

I will not have that much, I am afraid. I am actually very far from it.

and I am mostly getting downvotes anyway.

mmyers

11:27 PM

At your current rate, you'll have that much in another month

Laszlo Papp

11:51 PM

my current rate is slow.

user234239

now, to read the rest of that thread

Laszlo Papp

1

Q: Setup SUBDIRS template failed in QtCreator

The project is application(.pro) with a static library(.pro), so I am going to use TEMPLATE = SUBDIRS to manage it. my workspace.pro TEMPLATE = SUBDIRS greaterThan(QT_MAJOR_VERSION, 4): QT += widgets SUBDIRS += \ MY_LIB \ MY_APP1 MY_LIB.file=/Users/username/MYLIB/mylib.pro MY_APP1.fil...

here is another weird thread. The guy whose reply was selected has not bothered to update it, and his reply is even incorrect to a small degree. Yet, the OP decided to select that because it was the "Quickest" rather than "Best".

Transcript for