Re: call for a vote -- should debian-user mailing list replies go to author or to list?
On Thursday 25 August 2005 12:47 am, charlie wrote:
> On Wed, 24 Aug 2005 21:09:32 -0400
>
> Hal Vaughan <hal@thresholddigital.com> wrote:
> > On Wednesday 24 August 2005 09:05 pm, David Christensen wrote:
> > > Antonio Rodriguez wrote:
> > > ...
> > >
> > > > What I find outlandish is the deadline for the vote, I would say that
> > > > first all or most would have to agree to consider the matter,
> > > > including may be the list master him/her self. And then some deadline
> > > > could come up, if decided the discussion to take place.
> > >
> > > It is my understanding that this list is informal; e.g. it does require
> > > any rules of parliamentary procedure
> >
> > If you think that's true, try responding by always top posting and see
> > what happens.
> >
> > Hal
>
> That's true, there is an understanding about how to reply to Linux lists
> and in this case Hal, some would say "lose the Reply to" Because that also
> causes confusion.
Maybe this will help you understand my post:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dict.asp?Word=Sarcasm
> Etiquette is what is expected but not forced. Just those who agree with it
> looking down on those who don't follow it.
Well, then we don't have etiquette around here, not with some of the "this is
how it's done and anyone who doesn't do it this way is stupid" crowd.
(And that point brings up the following, but that is not to say I am directing
it at you:)
One thing I've noticed about the Debian lists and attitudes: There is a group
of people that are so absolutely sure they're right, that they are determined
they will do things their way, and no other way, whether it's a "reply to",
top posting, or ANYTHING. I've watched these people on lists, read their
comments in interviews or articles, and the more I hear discussions like
this, the more I think the only conclusion about such people is they are the
very source of the geek stereotype: someone who is so focused on tech and on
things that they have absolutely no understanding of people, human behavior,
or, even more so, such a thing as programs that have intuitive behavior.
Instead of dealing with the human side of things, they prefer to flaunt their
IQ by showing off how they can run esoteric programs that comparatively few
people need.
The more I listen, especially to this thread, the more I am forced to conclude
that is exactly what is going on: There are people who cannot abide being
part of the human race, so they hide in computers. But when more come in,
they hide in a minority OS. When more come in, they hide in the distros with
the reputation of requiring a genius to understand. I'm sure a good many of
them will, as more Debian based distros become popular, finally flee to BSD
variants, all so they can spend all their time making silly rules about how
to reply to something and what a good e-mail program and whether top posting
is evil or not.
For $diety's sake, people (and I use that term loosely), this is just a
mailing list. It is just a tool to help us do our jobs, so we can go on and
have a life. Get some g--d--- perspective on the whole thing. Or better
yet, in the words of William Shatner, "Move out of your parent's
basements ...and...get a life!"
It's just a mailing list! It's just a tool. Deal with it!
Then move on. Get out of the server room and explore LIFE instead of arguing
about something that won't change and is a behavior of e-mail that can be
VERY easily dealt with.
Hal
Reply to: