Agreed! :P On Thursday 10 August 2006 14:24, Peter Sutter wrote:
On Thursday 10 August 2006 13:20, Mike Dewhirst wrote:
Here is an axample of top-posting. So sue me :)
The fact is that we should be pleased this list attracts people who don't know the correct etiquette. IT MEANS (please forgive my shouting) NON-SAVVY PEOPLE ARE USING (trying to use) SuSE! This has been said many times before.
Sure we need a protocol. Someone ought to write one and post it wherever people sign up for this list. Then it would be easy to refer a hijacker or otherwise uneducated beginner to that well written and politely encouraging post.
I think it is important to help newbies rather than repel them. If you (oldies) want to depend on SuSE indefinitely it must grow in popularity.
Things never stay the same. SuSE's popularity can either grow or shrink. If it shrinks I have to switch my allegiance to another distro which I can rely on to retain critical mass and continue indefinitely.
Mail rage is repulsive.
Mike
Mike,
I agree with you, but we should be even more tolerant to newcomers and ignorants.
Since years I try to convince Microsoft users to switch over to Linux, SuSE Linux in particular, and when I could convince someone to make the switch, I feel that I have done the right thing.
These newcomers need all the support we can give. Most of them have never subscribed to a mailing list before, so they would not know about 'netiquette'; but all of them are keen to adapt and learn. If they make mistakes like top posting or try to unsubscribe in an unsuitable way, we can tell them in a polite way; and they will learn. Yes, there are some dickheads out there that will never learn, whether with or without abuse.
Unfortunately the Windows way is by trial and error, and this has gone into their blood, they believe that computers work that way and can't imagine that there are operating systems that behave predictably. With newcomers, this mentality is initially carried over into the Linux environment.
I believe that the purpose of the suse-linux-e mailing list is to
1. Give sensible information about SuSE Linux in particular and maybe Linux in general
2. To assist newcomers making the transition from either windows or another distro
We have to ask ourselves why people want to unsubscribe from this list? Why would anyone unsubscribe? I can't imagine they are doing it because they know too much about SuSE Linux, but here are some reasons I can think off why they want to:
Because they moved back to windows because they could not handle Linux Because they could not get the answers here Because they moved to another distro Because they got peed off by the sometimes abusive comments and answers
If the unsubscribe request is for any of the above reasons, WE as professionals have NOT done our job; we have failed to get our message across. This hurts not only SuSE Linux but the wider Linux community.
Lets be polite even to those that want to leave this list and make this list popular. I am sure all of us have the mental strength to do it.
Peter