<delurking> Well said, Bret.
-- Jon Something something blah blah blah On 13/04/2012, at 12:08 PM, Bret Robideaux <[email protected]> wrote: > You're more than welcome to set up a forum, blog, another email list. > Anything you want. Host it in the cloud, host it on a Commodore 64 in > your basement. Whatever makes you happy. And, please let us know about > it .. once. Some of us may want to join you. > > Make up your own rules to keep things civil, have no rules at all. > It's yours, it's your choice. > > This email list, however, is not yours. The rules on this list were > not pulled out of the air randomly by Anestis, rip, or me. It's not > our list. Every single rule we follow exists for a reason. > > Correcting someone who makes a mistake is an act of kindness. The fact > that someone is deeply offended at being corrected is quite simply > backwards. And lashing out at being corrected is beyond rude. > > The polite thing to do when entering a new community, making a mistake > and being corrected is to apologize, ask where to find the rules of > the community (assuming they weren't provided) and move on. A thread > should last only a few posts. The initial post, a couple reminders, an > apology and a "no problem, welcome to the list" or three. You're going > to get a couple reminders, deal with it. It's an email list, not a > forum, and email isn't delivered instantaneously, despite your > experience to the contrary. Early responders aren't going realize that > someone else posted a response first. It's just the nature of the > beast. > > Putting the blame for extending threads, for days on end, on the > people trying to be helpful is also backwards. The blame lies entirely > on the rude individuals lashing out at being corrected. Instead of > apologizing and defusing the situation, they lash out, responding to > each and every "attack". > > We go through the entire cycle nearly every time. It's the same litany > of nonsense: the "list cops" are rude, the rules are stupid, etc, etc. > No, the "list cops" are trying to be helpful. And the fact that you > can't comprehend a reason for a rule makes you somehow right, is > what's rude. Calling someone a Nazi, when they're only trying to be > helpful, is rude. > > This community is in the vicinity of 20 years old. And quite frankly, > it's amazing we've lasted this long without a list of rules rivaling > the works of Shakespeare. There aren't many of them, but they work > well. The links have been provided over and over, and can be again > upon request. They're relatively simple, and following them is the > polite thing to do. > > Bret >
