I think they could have really helped themselves by being humble and truly apologetic. Simple things like:
- "We are sorry for the harm we caused" instead of "We're sorry for any harm we caused"
- Not trying to explain their actions in the first paragraph of the apology! I think most folks are aware of their intent by now, and leading with yet another explanation just makes the whole thing feel disingenuous
- Avoid saying things like "this has been painful for us as well"
Unfortunately, it has so many hallmarks of a non-apology, and it's hard to look past those given the context.
As others have mentioned, they can clear this up with their actions going forward, but it will take time to rebuild trust.
Is that a thing? Like there's some non-apology Bingo card you can fill out? I don't see a connection between the criteria you listed and genuine-vs-false contrition.
You may perceive these things one way, but ultimately you can't know the minds of others well enough to tell if they are sincere or not about anything. You don't get to just declare yourself the arbiter of their feelings because they used "any" instead of "the".
I tend to have pretty dry affect at certain hours of the day, which has caused considerable frustration for myself and others when I know I'm sincere but they don't. Nor does it make much sense to me for that sort of mind-reading to take place democratically. What do we then gain from it?
At best, you get an apology for a misunderstanding over the previous apology, plus a second draft that the masses might like better. Then you still get that lingering contingent that says "you just did that to placate people! Now we really know you don't mean it!"
The cultural apparatus for "Saving Face" is completely broken on a build failure for missing dependencies.
- "We are sorry for the harm we caused" instead of "We're sorry for any harm we caused"
- Not trying to explain their actions in the first paragraph of the apology! I think most folks are aware of their intent by now, and leading with yet another explanation just makes the whole thing feel disingenuous
- Avoid saying things like "this has been painful for us as well"
Unfortunately, it has so many hallmarks of a non-apology, and it's hard to look past those given the context.
As others have mentioned, they can clear this up with their actions going forward, but it will take time to rebuild trust.