Re: call for a vote -- should debian-user mailing list replies go to author or to list?

[hndrik@pooq.com]

On Thu, Aug 25, 2005 at 02:26:24AM -0400, Hal Vaughan wrote:
> 
> 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 biggest problem with computing is that the whole thing is expanding too fast.  New people are joining the ranks of computer users far fster than the knowledge of how to  use them effectively can spread.  I've seen generation after generation of users (and in computing, a generation happens every few years) repeating the mistakes of the past, simply out of ignorance.  The old-timers have often realized that the old ways of doing things are, or are not the best (it varies from way to way).  Only occasionally do they have influence on what the next generation of users does.  And when they point out that some things are wrong (lots of things are right, but there's no point complaining about that, of course), the are accused of being geeks.

This situation has not changed much in the last thirty years.

-- hendrik


> 
> 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.

A minority OS that attracts techical people because thy can see things are done right there.  Of course, not everything is right about Debain, either.  I would be surprised if Linux itself didn't suffer some from taking over the Unix API uncritically.

-- hendrik