Agreed, we need to get back to discussion of technical issues. <div class="gmail_quote">On May 30, 2012 11:07 PM, "Ryan Gauger" <<a href="mailto:rtgkid@gmail.com">rtgkid@gmail.com</a>> wrote: <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"> What does all of this have to do with the original email? On May 30, 2012, at 6:12 PM, "Juan R. de Silva" <<a href="mailto:juan.r.d.silva@gmail.com">juan.r.d.silva@gmail.com</a>> wrote: >> People have different online habits. Those who began their Internet >> journey adopted one set of habits, largely informed by the norms of the >> then-popular Usenet community. Some of these habits probably had to do >> with the limited storage space and narrow bandwidth of the times. > > While it mostly true that the mentioned habits originated in mentioned > "then" realities, it is also true that these habits aimed usability, > meaning the time spent on reading and responding in first place. And this > is probably the main reason why these habits outlived their original > constrains and successfully migrated to new realities. > > Increased storage space and bandwidth do not mean people are ready to > spend their personal time "fishing" for the actual poster's message > between all HTML tags. > >> Naturally, these people >> brought their behavior to the Internet when corporate networks and the >> Internet converged. > > It might be very natural for them but it is not necessarily natural for > the community they just joined. See for the main reason above. > > IMHO, when people join a new to them community and look for assistance > from its members, it seems to be also natural to respect time and efforts > of those who they are expecting to provide such assistance. > >> Personally, I straddle both worlds. But I don't think it's right to >> expect everyone to do that. Kvetching on lists about the "proper" way to >> format messages is likely not to result in the desired behavior changes. >> In fact, it comes across as elitist and alienating. > > Well, first of all, it's not quite right to use words like "kvetching". > This DOES "comes across as elitist and alienating". > > If you read my post again you'd see that I just suggested that posting in > HTML was actually the best way for "alienating" a significant portion of > the community that is capable and would be willing to provide an > assistance. > > And BTW isn't it true that the existent posting etiquette does suggests > not HTML formatting as a PROPER one? > >> If Windows 8 turns out to be the disaster that the prognosticators >> appear convinced it will be, a certain percentage of Windows exiles >> might find their way to Kubuntu. Some of these might also find their way >> to this email list. They will bring with them habits gained from years >> of doing things the Windows way. Are these habits in some manner wrong? >> No, of course not. They're just different. > > With you permission, I would strongly disagree with you on this. > > Consider a simple example. People used to drive along the left hand road > side in UK. Some of them comes to another country where cars move along > right hand road side. Imagine now he/she would attempt to keep his/her > habits... > > Would it be "just different"? Or would it be wrong? > > You see, "just different" at times can be just wrong. > >> We, then, are faced with a >> choice: we can either welcome them to the wonderful world that is >> community-driven free software, or we can drive them away. Let's not >> drive them away. > > Agree with every single word. > > But let welcome them by helping to understand how Linux community in > large lives and why it is for their own benefit to accept and to adapt to > certain "habits" of this community. > > Yes, we can certainly "welcome" them by not letting them know about > existence of a posting etiquette. But wouldn't it be wrong? Wouldn't it > mean alienating them instead? > > Is it really the best way to welcome newcomers by slowly eroding the > community etiquette. > > > -- > kubuntu-users mailing list > <a href="mailto:kubuntu-users@lists.ubuntu.com">kubuntu-users@lists.ubuntu.com</a> > Modify settings or unsubscribe at: <a href="https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/kubuntu-users" target="_blank">https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/kubuntu-users</a> -- kubuntu-users mailing list <a href="mailto:kubuntu-users@lists.ubuntu.com">kubuntu-users@lists.ubuntu.com</a> Modify settings or unsubscribe at: <a href="https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/kubuntu-users" target="_blank">https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/kubuntu-users</a> </blockquote></div>