Why we are all here (was Re: audio cd)

[Nathan Aubrey]

On Wednesday 28 March 2007, Micah DesJardins wrote:
> IANALA (I am not a list administrator)
-- ha ha, that's great! Points for creativity!

> This is just me, as a user and member of this list sounding off on a
> topic brought up on Michael's audio cd thread.
>
> I'm thinking that we are all here because we have interest and
> enthusiasm in Linux, Free and Open Source Software, and other Unix
> type operating systems.
>

Agreed.

> It is my hope that we are all here to learn from one another and to
> teach one another.  I learn things from this list all the time and I'm
> grateful to all of you for the knowlege, skills and experience that
> you are willing to share with all of us.  How wonderful is it that
> this many people are around in our local area who are into this stuff?
> I think it's great.
>
Agreed.

> Regarding list ettiquette.  To my knowledge (and I may be
> misinformed?!), there are no formal guidelines for the PLUG list and
> that suits me just fine.  We are small and informal enough that pretty
> much anything goes.  The following is simply my opinion.  Your opinion
> may vary, I have no interest in formalizing anything in terms of how
> we all use this list.
>
I like the idea that anything goes. As I hate unneeded regulations telling us 
what we can and can not do, I think it would be a great disservice to tell us 
what we can and cannot say. Or how we can say it. If you have to say 
something that might be taken negatively, we all have offline email addresses 
that we can say it offline.


> I recognize Alex Dean's position that everyone's time is valuable and
> that we should be considerate about what we send out to a mailing list
> because in effect we are implicitly asking a large number of people to
> read what we are saying. 

What upset me was the fact that he reemed Michael on the list. I have ignored 
many posts in the past because it was just a silly post or not of any 
importance. But I would never rip on someone because their post is wasting 
space in my inbox. The days of paying for internet access are long behind 
us(or coming again.,..) I pay a flat fee for internet access, so I don't care 
if I get a few posts that don't apply to anything. If it really bothered him 
that bad, he should have sent an offline message to Michael requesting him to 
not post useless messages.

> I recognize Nathan and Bill's position that 
> inclusion and encouragement are more important than the signal to
> noise ratio.  (However I submit that coming down on someone to prove
> that coming down on someone is wrong is more than a little ironic.)

However ironic you may find it, Alex blasted him on list instead of requesting 
politely off-list, so I made a statement onlist as well. Again, he should 
have kept it to himself or sent it to him offlist.


>
> In general I'd say, all questions are worth asking! However I also
> consider it polite to do your research.  To that end I encourage you
> to use Google, use your distribution's documentation, and use the man
> command religiously!  My experience is that people are generally more
> than happy to help but it always leaves a good impression when someone
> has made a demonstrated effort to find a solution before bringing it
> to the list.  That said, if you don't even know where to start, if you
> have no idea where you would find a solution for a problem that you're
> having, please don't let that discourage you from asking!
>

I don't know how old Michael is, but I just have the assumption he's a young 
guy, (sorry if you're older!). If I had been 14 or 15 when I joined this list 
I would have quickly lost my interest in Linux because of the negative 
attitudes of many people I've encountered here over the years. I have been on 
this list for several years, and I've been using Linux since slackware first 
came out. I don't feel the need to impress anyone, or push my seniority 
because I've used Linux longer than most people on this list. Nor do I feel 
stupid when I ask an extemely simple questiuon that I should have known 
better. I take part in this list because there is a great wealth of knowledge 
amongst the pluggers, and I enjoy learning things that others do.
I felt bad that someone would jump on Michael for something so innocent, and I 
don't mean to get political, but frankly it pisses me off that someone would 
do that to someone who is trying to learn and just a little excited.
How many times have you been there before? I've been there many times. 
Unfortunaley I've stumbled on cool things many times in the past, but avoided 
posting them to this list for this exact reason, I knew I would be ignored or 
blasted for wasting a few neurons.

Please excuse the rant, but you asked for opinions!

Nathan


> So that's my opinion, what's yours?
>
> Micah D
> ---------------------------------------------------
> PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss at lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change  you mail settings:
> http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss



-- 

--------------------------------------------------------------
PaysonLinux User Group
Community Based Linux Support
http://www.paysonlinux.org/

Business Consulting Services,
Advanced Network and Server Design,
Security Solutions,
Process Management and Efficiency Consultations

      _   _____   ______  ___   ___   ______
     | | | ____| / _____| | |   | |  / _____|
     | | | |___  | |____  | |   | |  | |____
  _  | | |  ___| \____  \ | |   | |  \____  \
 | |_| | | |___   ___/  / | |___| |   ___/  /
  \___/  |_____| |_____/  |_______|  |_____/

 ______   _______   __   __   _____   ______
/ _____| |   _   | |  | |  | | ____| / _____
| |____  |  |_|  | |  | |  | | |___  | |____
\____  \ |   _   | |  | |  | |  ___| \____  \
 ___/  / |  | |  | \  \_/  / | |___   ___/  /
|_____/  |__| |__|  \_____/  |_____| |_____/


That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,
and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him
from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
          < Romans 10:9 KJV >

" His mother laid him in a manger "
" Wrapper in swaddling clothes "
" His foes laid him upon a cross "
" And gambled for his robes "
" His friends laid him in a garden tomb "
" But it was not his own "
" His Father laid him in Zion "
" The Precious Corner Stone "
    -- Sound Doctrine "Where Did They Lay Him"