Please don't CC me. I am on this list, and I therefore did not request to be CCd. Russell Coker wrote:
On Tuesday 25 January 2005 11:26, Helen Faulkner <helen_ml_faulkner@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:I do not believe that being thick-skinned enough to cope with people who are very agressive or insulting should be a requirement for involvement in Debian. Sadly, it seems to me that this is effectively the case. Shouldn't we be more interested in someone's technical skills, and their ability to work well with others?What makes you think that Debian is unique in this regard? Have you never been to a conference dinner where Rusty's flame collection is on display?
I didn't say Debian is unique, and I don't know Rusty.
For those of you who don't know Rusty has a fine collection of flames (and other silly messages) written to some very skillful Linux programmers. You can write excellent code and be nice and still get flamed a lot. This is just something you have to deal with.Children have problems with this sort of thing, adults are supposed to be able to deal with it.
Hmm, maybe you think that behaviour like Rusty's is very adult then.
Anyone who can't deal with being flamed should not be permitted to drive a car. Other drivers will do offensive things, if you can't deal with it then you can't drive safely and are a threat to the life of everyone on the road.
Ahh, it's the "I can deal with it therefore it's OK" line. What if there is another solution? Are you even prepared to consider that possibility?
What would you prefer:1) - a community where people are pleasant to each other, where disagreements are discussed politely, and where people who are unable to be civil are not glorified for their behaviour.
or2) - a community where people are often unpleasant to each other because such behaviour is not only tolerated but actively rewarded, where disagreements often reduce to shouting matches that alienate some whose opinions might be valuable, and where people who don't like this and express that are criticised for suggesting that we lose something because of this and that maybe things could be different and better.
? Helen.