Sounder mailing list etiquette and future direction

[Steve Furbish]

John McCabe-Dansted wrote:
> On Fri, Dec 4, 2009 at 10:09 PM, Elizabeth Krumbach <lyz at ubuntu.com> wrote:
>   
>> Ubuntu and the Code of Conduct seek to address this, which is why some
>> of these personal attacks, flame wars and bike shedding is not welcome
>> on Sounder (or any Ubuntu lists, -users was brought up in this
>> discussion as well and we in the CC are aware of this behavior there
>> too and are working to address it).
>>     
>
> Since ubuntu-devel-discuss was formed most of the productive
> discussion moved there, and sounder has become a dumping ground
> various and bikeshedding and unproductive discussions that occur on
> other lists.
>   

Bikeshedding - very cool word. Too bad it apparently has a negative 
connotation. I've been involved in discussions on Usenet and Fido-net 
since the early 90s and this is my first discussion group exposure to 
"Bikeshedding", the term.  I alway kind of thought that the  purpose of 
the sounder mailing list was to provide a less serious, less structured 
place to discuss some of the more trivial aspects of Ubuntu. I use 
Ubuntu, Mint and OpenSuse distributions on my linux computers, but this 
is the only mailing list I found interesting enough to read regularly. 
When I want to learn the technicalities of a specific distribution I 
consult the appropriate FAQs, Wikis or Knowledge-base pages.
Too bad the list seems to be in such turmoil over trivialities. The mere 
existence and extent of this thread shows that it has a place, but it's 
the CC's dime and I certainly realize that I don't contribute enough to 
be entitled to complain. I won't foolishly threaten to switch to a 
different linux distribution because I don't like the power wrangling in 
Sounder, but I would urge that tolerance trumps a heavy hand when 
getting the looky-loos to participate. I know next to nothing about 
software development, but I know enough about human nature to realize 
that appeasement of the more easily offended will dry this list up much 
more than ignoring all but the most egregious and dedicated of flamers.

A mailing list where nobody disagrees is not only a bikeshed, but one 
filled with nothing but  kumbaya singing robots.

Steve