+10000 We need to document this :) thanks -- dims
On 1/1/06, Ted Husted <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On 12/20/05, Jean T. Anderson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I think potentially *anything* could feed a troll, so then the goal is > > how to minimize troll effects on the community. I really like Mark's > > Gandhi approach for setting FUD straight, and I think the humor of your > > approach definitely merits a place in the anti-troll arsenal. > > > > -jean > > Gandhi said "You must be the change you wish to see in the world," > which, I think, is excellent advice for anyone working in open source, > especially when dealing with trolls. > > Once I determine a poster is a troll, I never, ever feed the troll. > Usually, I filter the posts directly to the trash. Back in the BBS > days, we called this a "twit list". > > If I do see a flame, I go back to the original poster and respond in a > helpful way, but without quoting the flame. I do what should have been > done in the first place: I "be the change". > > If there's misinformation in a flame that needs to be corrected, I > look for another way to reply without quoting the misinformation. > Sometimes that can be done by responding to someone else in the > thread. Other times, I will start a new thread to state the correct > information but without quoting the misinformation. Again: Be the > change, and don't feed the trolls. > > I avoid answering questions about a project off list. If someone can't > or won't post to the list, and it's a question I want to answer, I'll > post the question and answer to the list myself, but not to one person > alone. > > If someone sends me a question that they should ask on the list, I > always reply: "The best place to post a question like this is the User > list, where there are more people to help an the answers are archived. > [Link to the mailing list page.]" > > If someone asks me about a troll, I suggest that they do what I do: > Filter the twit to the trash. If that someone then posts to the list, > I make sure they recieve a helpful response. > > When a new committer joins one of my projects, and we've had trouble > with trolls, I send them this note: > > ---- > > From time to time, all public mailing lists have trouble with trolls > -- people who delight in complaining for the sake of complaining. And, > of course Apache mailing lists are no exception. > > Trolls have been discussed at length on internal lists, and in the > end, we are left with the Apache maxim: > > * Don't feed the trolls. > > We do try listening and we do try reasoning, and when that doesn't > work we are left with shunning. > > It doesn't always make the trolls go away, but it does tend to quiet > them. Replying only makes it worse, not only because trolls don't > listen or reason (they only complain), but because it steals time from > productive work. Time we waste replying to trolls can't be spent > applying patches or replying to earnest users. > > Of course, we are all volunteers here, and we are free to act > according to our own lights, but it my experience, starving trolls > does work -- at least as well as anything else does. > > ---- > > In one case, a troll from one project started to post to another. I > was able to warn the other PMC right away. None of the commtters fell > for the troll-bait, and the troll went away. > > Happy New Year! > > -Ted. > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > -- Davanum Srinivas : http://wso2.com/blogs/ --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
