What's happening on ubuntu-users , and why it's normal

[Ashley Benton]

On Thu, Jun 12, 2008 at 5:33 AM, Peter Garrett <
peter.garrett at optusnet.com.au> wrote:

>
>
> I think that we are seeing the usual evolution of a list as the project
> becomes ever more popular. In 2004-6 (roughly), this list really was
> mostly about technical help and discussion, and I think the
> "demographic" was *similar* to that on, say, a Debian list. As Ubuntu
> has become more and more popular, we have seen an influx of people who
> don't come from the "traditional" Linuxish/*nixish backgrounds. The
> kinds of questions have changed, and the level of discussion has perhaps
> dropped in quality somewhat.
>
> That's a nice way of saying that the signal-to-noise ratio has
> deteriorated ;-)


It could be as there  are more beginners that like me don't know anything
about Linux (and ubuntu)  and I think it is good in some way.

>
>
> Fortunately, there are some excellent posters who continue to provide
> good advice and help. Inevitably, there are now more of the other
> variety than there used to be.


A big thanks to all of them as they really help to make the change between
Windows and Ubuntu  and are present when we need help because we made a
stupid mistake

>
>
>
> * We are likely to see some people disappear, because the nature of the
> "community" has changed in ways that don't fit their perceptions of
> what "should" be happening, or their interests no longer fit the
> changes.


Some newbby don't take the time to search and often answer not very nicely
when you try to help and that is sad to read

>
>
> * We are going to suffer from the loss of people who are simply tired
> of repeating the same answers again and again. If you spend enough time
> trying to help, you eventually get to a stage where it often seems
> better not to say anything, rather than be seen as "arrogant" or "a net
> nanny" or a "self-appointed expert", and so on....


Why, that is not arrogance to know and help if somebody can't take an answer
he or she can look for an answer by himself/herself. I read before that I
begun to use the list that the answer could be impolite and I could be
insult by asking a question. It happened only once because I didn't
understand how not to top post and I admit it was because of my mistake
never because of the question.

>
>
> * All of this is perfectly normal and part of the expected changes in a
> large project that has a wide variety of participants.
>
> * Lest this be seen as a long-winded illumination of the obvious - the
> point of sending it is to try to summarise the reasons for recent
> *cough* long threads dealing mostly with very "human" issues - like
> "why are we getting irritated by a few loud and obnoxious posters with
> no clues", and so on.


I think it is ok for people who take the time to answer to be irritated
sometimes, so what just get over it stay polite and thanks for the help.

>
>
> To those who dislike terse and to-the-point answers: get over it. Those
> terse but accurate answers are the life blood of a project, and usually
> come from the people who know the most, and are willing to communicate
> their knowledge.
>
> To those who are used to giving terse-but-correct answers: Ubuntu is
> not Slackware or Debian, and a few more warm-fuzzies won't hurt you when
> you deliver your knowledge ;-)


It is to the newbby to make an effort as he or she is of need of help not
the other way around, at least it is the way I see it. If the post is going
out of topic because of the person who ask the answer just stop answering
that will save you time.

So for a conclusion I will just thanks the list for who they are and there
help and tell newbby to stay polite and try to understand the people who are
helping them.

Sincerely

Meg
(I hope that I quote the message correctly, if not let me know)

>
>
> * the hard-line "teach a man to fish" crowd - sit back and laugh at
> yourselves a bit.
>
>
>
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