politeness

[Mark Haney]

Rafael Barreto wrote:
> I am surprised about how umpolite and rude some answers can be. Sometimes I don't dare ask a question or express an opinion fearing that somebody can ridicule me or treat me in such a rude way as Mark Haney, the latin man, treated Karl. Great culture and little education. Mark, I recommend you to read "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie.
> Raf.
> 

Let me enlighten you, as most others seem to have.  If you have read my 
replies to other list users, you would know this, however, I will 
enlighten you.

I usually tend to answer posts that are reasonably asked questions with 
politeness and respect.  I've been doing this a /long/ time now and know 
what the etiquette is.  I'm genuinely interested in helping people learn 
/that are willing to learn/.

So, feel free to ask.  If there are problems with etiquette in your 
email, or if there's not enough information, I'll be glad to politely 
correct you and then try to help you.  Feel free to peruse my replies in 
any major mailing list, they are pretty well consistent.

However, I do have a pet peeve.  People who refuse to learn.  People who 
/think/ they know more than they actually do and continue to show their 
ignorance repeatedly and despite continuous requests to look before they 
leap.

I really would like to think Karl has some magical device that spouts 
the tripe I typically get from his posts, but I rather doubt it.  The 
shine fades from something like that quickly and I would think after the 
repeated requests to just stop that he would know not to turn it on.

When Karl first joined the lists, we (and not just myself) tried for 
several months to teach him about linux.  Politely.  He wouldn't listen. 
  He still doesn't listen.  If I didn't know any better, I'd think he 
was about 15 or 16.

This isn't solely about Karl.  Anyone demonstrating repeatedly over the 
course of months the unwillingness to learn the OS they are on the list 
for, the constant asking of questions that google would answer for them, 
the obvious fact that they don't want to /try/ to fix things on their 
own before asking the list, that's what gets me.And that's why I get cranky.

I'll say that I have toned down my responses to Karl to only slightly 
sarcastic.  I'm trying to get him to listen, but it's like talking to a 
wall.  I really do wish he'd listen before opening his mouth.  He could 
potentially be good at this stuff.  But, I'm tired of being nice to 
someone who just wants to fill my inbox with garbage, lies and half-truths.

As for your book selection, honestly, I'm not on here to win friends, as 
such.  I'm here to help people.  And to learn in the process.  And since 
you're new around here, I suggest you research things further before 
taking the moral high-road with me.

The proof is in the pudding. Go over all my posts, then go over Karl's. 
  Then you can make up your own mind.  But if you are basing your 
judgment on is a handful of posts from the last couple of days, you're 
missing the forest for the trees.



-- 
Libenter homines id quod volunt credunt -- Caius Julius Caesar


Mark Haney
Sr. Systems Administrator
ERC Broadband
(828) 350-2415

Call (866) ERC-7110 for after hours support