The programing

[Derek Shields]

I'd just like to say how much I agree with Peter. I'm a newish user of
Linux, I love it and feel that it is an absolute boon to the computer
user, but it is hard enough to learn how to use it without smart and
rude answers to reasonable questions. Most of the stuff written about
Linux is utterly incomprehensible to anyone except a reasonably expert
user and it does nobody any sort of service to add to the pain of
learning with abuse.

If we are a community, let's be a loving one, not a bunch of smart-arses
- this only betrays a fundamental lack of self-confidence. Linux is
great, Linux users are great people, let us be confident in those fact.
Best wishes, Derek 

On Thu, 2005-10-06 at 08:56 +0100, Peter Shillan wrote:
> Hi everyone,
> 
> Since I am not a moderator this may carry little weight but I'm going
> to say it anyway.  The lady who contacted the list may have misspelled
> Linux but that is no reason to be rude to her.  It seems that English
> may not even be her first language.  Are there many of us on this list
> who could fluently converse in a second language?  Probably not as
> many as those of another nationality who talk with us in English.
> 
> I know this is an informal list and that questions are answered by
> ordinary members but we have to remember that we represent a community
> - several even.  The Kubuntu community, the Ubuntu community, the
> Linux community and the open source community.  When we reply to new
> (or potentially new) users with sarcasm, acerbic commentary and
> rudeness, all we do is make those people decide they don't want to be
> a part of it.
> 
> Can we please try to encourage a positive attitude towards those who
> know less?  Just because something is obvious to you, doesn't make it
> obvious to someone who is a new user and perhaps completely new to
> computing.
> 
> I think, in short, if you can't answer nicely, don't answer at all. 
> Someone else will do it.
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Peter.
>