At 03:20 PM 11/15/00 +0000, Jules Bean wrote:
There seems to be an assumption here that whether or not you use the word 'fuck' and similar ones is an irrelevance. I don't agree that is necessarily is. Consider the two putative replies to a foolish question from a newbie: a) That question is clearly answered in the documentation; please go and read it. b) You fucking wanker! It's fucking losers like you, you never fucking read the docuemntation, that make this fucking project so fucking unrewarding to work on. Why don't you just turn to serving food in a fast food restaurant and never come back, since you're clearly not intelligent enough to use a computer?
Compare b) with:c) You stupid moron! It's idiots like you, who never read the documentation, that make this project so unrewarding to work on. Why don't you just turn to serving food in a fast food restaurant and never come back, since you're clearly not intelligent enough to use a computer?
Both are sharp. They have similar real content. The second is a lot more offensive. If I received the first reply, I'd think "Oops, that was stupid of me. Maybe I better do some more reading before I ask any more silly questions. If had received the second, I'd be clear of that project like a shot (maybe, I'm quite thick-skinned actually). Which would, presumably, be a loss; cooperation is important in open source projects.
The third doesn't use "fuck", but I'd still find it as offputting as the second if I was a newbie. Both are, to me, more offensive and less helpful that "RTFM!", even if RTFM was written out. Both attack the questioner rather than address the issue.
I might be tempted to use something like the second, but the victim would have to really deserve it ("I just checked my archives, and you've asked stupid questions like this on debian-devel every day for over a month, all of which are more appropriate for debian-user, and any could have been found within a minute by simply checking the documentation! We've told you this, repeatedly, and you don't listen. You said you have Dale Sheetz's book; have you ever thought of checking the index? Have you even read it? Have you even looked at the table of contents? I know every one of your questions can be answered in less time than it took to even write your emails because I checked in my copy of the book! You fucking wanker! etc"), except "wanker" isn't in my dialect, so I wouldn't use it.
I think we drifted from my point, though. I don't feel it is /ever/ acceptable for one member of debian to engage is such a powerful ad hominem attack against another. I'm not actually saying that I think any sanctions are remotely appropriate, but I do think a wrong was done.
I'll admit, I haven't seen much ad hominem from Craig -- I have a finely-tuned flame filter that makes me hit "n" on my keyboard when I see vitriolic flaming before the sender, recipient, or even the topic of the flame ever registers. This is what I get for reading Usenet for 11 years.
To me, this is the best way to deal with this sort of thing. I get more upset and angry about well-written, polite messages that misrepresent me, my positions, or any group, organization, or culture I identify with than I do with postings like those at issue here. If I do read them, even if they are directed at me, I may be amused, may feel the author is an idiot, but I probably won't respond -- it's not worth it.
Jules