Community Council, please take action!

[Amedee Van Gasse]

On 07-01-10 00:49, Brian Clarkson wrote:

> I didn't know what the term "troll" meant,

It's jargon.
This is the glossary of The Jargon File:
http://catb.org/jargon/html/go01.html

  which was being referred to
> in some of the emails on this and the other similar threads, so I looked
> it up and found at the Indiana University website
> (http://kb.iu.edu/data/afhc.html), the following comment:
>
> "People post such messages (trolls) to get attention, to disrupt
> discussion, and to make trouble. The best response to a troll is no
> response. If you post a follow-up message, you are contributing to the
> resulting clamor and most likely delighting the troller. "

More details in http://catb.org/jargon/html/T/troll.html

> The wisdom in this seemed to me to be the recommendation:
>
> "The best response to a troll is no response."

Most of the times, yes. But not always.
For example, when a troll spreads information that is factually wrong 
and could cause damage or data loss, there should be a reply (preferably 
from a list moderator, if available) to counter the disinformation.

It's not black and white but shades of grey.

-- 
Amedee Van gasse