hendrik@topoi.pooq.com wrote:
> Nor does anyone pay them to insult newbies. I can only conclude that
> those miscreants are VOLUNTEERING to insult newbies. They do it because
> they want to. They take time out of their lives to insult newbies with
> no thought of remuneration. Thank god there are so few of them!
I can't recall many instances where someone wasn't blasted who didn't, in
part, have it coming to them. It's a matter of respect. Let me give you an
example.
For a time in my Slackware days I was a channel operator for a linux
channel on IRC. It was not a help channel, never billed itself a help
channel, often times went out of it's way to point people to the Linux help
channel which existed on the very same network. Yet help was dispensed on
that channel all the same. I would venture that a good portion of the people
who came onto the channel seeking help were respectful in that they had a well
defined question, had done a little homework before coming to the channel and
presenting their question and did so without expectations of anything from the
people on there who were just there to chat about things linux. However there
was also a good portion of people who came on expecting help. They hadn't
tried to solve things themselves. They expected answers right away, even
negative answers. It was all about them, them, them.
Group 1 got answers. If answers were readily on the channel they were
pointed to other resources that might help. Group 1 had the basic respect
that should be shown anyone who is volunteering their time and expertise.
They respected the people by not wasting their time with lousy questions.
They respected the people by not wasting their time with questions which were
easily answered (at the time) with a 1 word Yahoo! search. They respected the
people by not expecting answers to their questions *RIGHT* *NOW* from people,
knowledgeable as they were, who might not know. They didn't expect those
people to do the searching for them.
Group 2 showed contempt in their presentation, attitude and expectations.
Group 2 didn't get answers. Group 2, after a short time, got a quick ban.
Because that's the one good thing about volunteering one's time and expertise.
You don't have to put up with the people who have no respect for others.
--
Steve C. Lamb | I'm your priest, I'm your shrink, I'm your
PGP Key: 8B6E99C5 | main connection to the switchboard of souls.
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