Mentoring New Ops ( suggestion from recent meeting)

[Peter Garrett]

Hi,

I'm sending this as a "Request for Comments" ;-) 
[ flames will be accepted with equanimity ]

In the recent meeting, I suggested that it might be an idea to have mentors
for new ops. We have all, to some extent, benefited from informal mentoring
from other ops, but perhaps it's time to have a slightly more formal
framework. I do  not mean by this that we should have a bullet point wiki
page about it, or some kind of "quasi legal" document - in my view there's
already quite enough of that kind of stuff, and in some ways it just
increases the pressure on people.

There is a possibility that making this too formal would be
counter-productive, but perhaps we can work out some guidelines for it.

My personal suggestion would be that two people could be mentors for each
new op, along these lines: -

* Person (1) would be a technical mentor who could point the new op to
various URLs about "opping" as necessary, and participate in some
"practice" sessions in another channel ( <kidding> say,  #kickban
</kidding> )

* Person (2) would be more of a mentor in the sense of encouraging "esprit
de corps" , how to stop steam coming out of your ears ;-), when to back
off, when to be firm, and other such rather subjective concerns... Also
suggestions for general diplomacy with other ops, like not embarrassing
each other publicly.

I think both aspects are important - to me, aspect (2) is actually more
important than aspect (1) .

Just as a general observation ( only a personal opinion ), i think it is
important that we retain a sense of humour, and don't take ourselves too
seriously. That is not to say that what ops do is unimportant, but a sense
of perspective is needed. I also feel that we should not be too
precious about "fun" behaviour. In the two years that I've been on
#*ubuntu channels I have seen a gradual movement away from a very friendly and
relaxed atmosphere, towards an increasingly serious and perhaps, sometimes,
too rigid interpretation of what an IRC channel should be.

If it isn't fun, people will feel alienated. Remember that most people on
most channels are there because they  enjoy it. Let's keep it enjoyable.

I haven't been around as much lately on IRC, and therefore have not been
prominent as an op, but perhaps that gives me some perspective. I used to
practically *live* in #ubuntu , but the young whippersnappers won't
remember that ;-) ...  [ some people thought I was a bot ;-) ] 

A few suggestions: ( I hope they won't be seen as presumptuous)

* If you get hot and bothered, go afk for a while ( all ops should have a
punching bag handy for these moments)

* If you feel burnt out, and it starts to feel like a "regular job" and
ceases to be fun, it's time to take some time off. You can always do
something *easy* and *relaxing* , like, say, setting up jackd with midi
*groan*, trying to understand regular expressions, or making esd co-operate
properly with ALSA    ... ;-)  ( these are not recommended for those with a
tendency towards premature grey hair)

* If you disagree with a decision, ask about it privately before
confronting a fellow op publicly

<thoreauputic> /msg someotherop Why did you ban $LUSER for saying sabdfl is
a space cadet?

;-)

* A few  sarcastic ops with a rapid-fire style help to keep
channels on their toes ( Yes, they do!! No they don't!! Yes, they do !!)

* A few softies help to balance the tough guys ;-)  <in-joke>  hobbsee for
instance..  </in-joke>   

This post is intended as a starting point for discussion. Please take it
as a lighthearted and slightly tongue-in-cheek attempt to help us all enjoy
what we do - but also realise that it's written because I care about the
atmosphere and function of our irc channels .

If it's merely annoying, see recommendations above, and apply larts as
needed  :)


Peter

( thoreauputic)