[OT] was Ubuntu has gone!

[Thorny]

On Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:28:43 -0300, Derek Broughton posted:

> Thorny wrote:
> 
>>> Its childish and petty to refuse to help a newbie because they're not
>>> following some set of rules you think everyone should follow but are
>>> not set in stone by the Admin.  Unless the Admin of this group sets
>>> such rules in stone they are suggestions only and "cannot" be enforced
>>> by anyone as "the rules".
>> 
>> Suggestions from posters to follow the guidelines are just what they
>> are, suggestions. Not all posters make the threat you dislike,
> 
> I'm not sure you can even say "some".  I'm the only person I can recall
> who has actually suggested anything of the sort - and I have NEVER
> "refused" to help someone who top-posts or fails to trim.  I just won't
> go to too much trouble.  Which means that if, after I've asked someone
> not to top-post, and they go ahead and do it anyway - thus leaving a
> thread involving at least two top-posts intertwined with two in-line
> posts that's completely illegible - I stop trying.  And I only mention
> it because I'm convinced that that's extremely common behaviour, but
> most people just stop posting rather than saying anything about it.

Derek, you are certainly one of the people I thought about but not as
"refusing", just as being open and honest about it. Some people do make
the threat, I can't know if they really don't help or not but people have
the right to help whom they choose. That's one of the reasons I make the
point that posters will get better help from the most knowledgeable
posters if they follow the guidelines. Making it easier for posters to
understand the request for help and answer it efficiently helps the OP
posting for help and the community as a whole to be more efficient. Doing
anything that keeps good troubleshooters like yourself from contributing
and peer review of a thread is generally counterproductive for the OP.
That's the reason for following the guidelines, it's effective.

I agree with you about common behaviour, I notice the absence of regulars
in many of the type of threads we are discussing.

Just so you know Derek, I didn't write the first paragraph which you
attributed to me, that was Res.