Re: Q: List Policy
On Mon, Nov 24, 2008 at 11:45:33PM -0500, Celejar wrote:
> On Mon, 24 Nov 2008 21:15:25 -0700
> Paul E Condon <pec@mesanetworks.net> wrote:
>
> ...
>
> > Answers are some from people who are still learning but mostly from
> > people who have very little to learn from following this list*. Really
> > good answers come from a very small group of special people who set
> > the tone of the list. These special people also wrote the Debian
> > rules. Debian list rules exist to codify best practice in list poster
> > behavior. Best practice is thought to be that behavior that allows
> > minimum effort writing of a good answer by a person who knows the good
> > answer. These people are a valuable resource. They are the elite of
> > Debian. They deserve respect. Life is easier. You get better answers
> > faster if you play by the rules that they have written. And playing by
> > the rules they wrote is itself a sign of the respect that is due them.
>
> Your points are well taken, but please note that some of the most
> consistently and prolifically helpful people on the list are not DDs,
> and at least some of them would be the first to admit that they do
> benefit from the list. Florian Kulzer, Douglas A. Tutty, Sven Joachim
> and Tzafrir Cohen come to mind.
>
Well, yes. I intended no disrespect for anyone, especially not for
helpful people on this list, but also no disrespect for people who
imagine that established Debian policy can be lightly ignored. There
is a social contract here. A social contract is a rather old idea
that has not much traction in the modern world.
I had not recognized the people that you mention as being receivers of
much help, but I must admit to having little interest in keeping a
close tally of who gets and how much. I would like to believe that
these people, also, give better answers than they would were Debian
rules ignored.
Peace.
--
Paul E Condon
pecondon@mesanetworks.net
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