[GRLUG] (no subject)

[Tim Schmidt]

On Thu, May 1, 2008 at 10:00 AM,  <Bill_Raterink at spartanstores.com> wrote:
> Now...
> I posted a question on a linux forum & after a week of not even a response,
> I "asked if I could ask" the question on another (language) forum.
> This showed both the courtesy the site deserved, and the preparedness on my
> part to abide by the forums reply.  This was not done here on the GRLUG
> site.

Indeed.  An ounce of courtesy goes a long way on the part of the
person requesting a favor.

> What this illustrated to me was a community that is willing to go the extra
> steps to help a (by this time) very distressed fellow student of the *nix
> world.  Based on the dialog, I feel I'm the very person the GRLUG is trying
> to attract.  I'm attempting to move to the Linux world, and require some
> "mentoring in the process".  However, I'm now left wondering if this group
> can... 1)really offer the help I'm going to need, and  2) if it will be
> worth the price in having to deal with the personality issues.

I'm sure someone here can help with almost any issue you might
encounter.  Dealing with other people's personality 'quirks' is the
price of all social interaction.  It's more than fair.

> I think the professor made some profound misjudgements, but the groups
> "collective" image is at stake with EVERY reply, & I didn't see anywhere,
> where that was even taken into consideration.  Sure, you think Linux is
> better than Windows, and even saying so is not harmful in itself, but if the
> humor is not explicitly stated, then you run the risk of offending folks.
> The fallout is just not worth the risk, in my opinion.

Misjudgments indeed.  You yourself appear to assume that we are all
here to maximize the number of people using Linux.  Not so.  I'm here
to help people who - in my opinion - have demonstrated a willingness
to help themselves.  Others have entirely different motivations.

_We are not a singular unit with a singular purpose_

Thinking of us as one leads to many errors in judgment.

> Most people would never knowingly adopt a belligerent attitude towards the
> very people they're asking for help.  We must consider this persons
> frustration level, before adding to it by sending a retaliatory response.  A
> simple "We're sorry, but that doesn't belong in this forum" even if it has
> to be repeated by 2-3 folks, is a better, more professional way of handling
> this type of issue.  To he "outside world" (ie. me) this dialog appeared to
> be a bunch of gamers bullying the kid in the horned rimmed glasses.

If people here didn't _volunteer_ their own hard-earned knowledge and
time, they may be more interested in living up to your definition of
professionalism.

> ...& professor, you blew it.  These folks here WANT to help you, & they
> offered you what they could, so....

Agree entirely.  The only price for all this free help and knowledge
is to learn how to ask for it competently and politely.  Failing to
expend such minimal effort is what earns scorn and derision.  The
relative experience of the questioner has little bearing.

--tim