JTD wrote:
I am now "convinced" that splitting will be detrimental to all particularly newbies and accept the PIA of grouching about newbieisms, which the newbies so crave.
If splitting starts, then it will also reflect on the lug meets. We will be creating exclusive zones instead of being all inclusive, a fundamental feature of FOSS vis a vis commercial closed software.
I think members are quite civil and the occasional phlegm is to be expected as the price of non apartheid and non censorship. Censorship is the refuge of the uncivilised.
I am not against flaming, all I suggest is to make it organised and focussed so that the personal ill feelings are not created. For example,
1. If a member top posts, he is given a preset official phrase " The list rules do not permit top posting. Please post your reply below the original message. Thanks" Thats it. No comments like "Hey dude don't top post" or "Why are you top posting".
2. If a member asks for a solution that requires him/her to refer to the manual, instead of saying "rtfm" or "Ever heard of google" or "Don't you have access to google", he is simply given another preset phrase " This problem can be solved by refering to the manual and even searching google for it. If you still face problems, then please post a report on what you did so far and at what point are you facing problems".
As a group, we could create a list of common mistakes made by members especially newbies and the corresponding official phrase for cautioning the member. Once we select the phrases, nobody should deviate from it and post prickly messages.
What I observed here is that some members do not have time to post solutions to the problems asked but they have a lot of time to go on and on with flame messages. Sometimes most posts are focussed on flames rather than technical information. Half or quarter of the time and web space spent on endless flaming can be spent on providing information and close the chapter.
Regards,
Rony.
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