--- Chris Tortorich <ctorto1 at lsu.edu> wrote:
> Alan wrote: > > >You may find this comes back and bites you in the > backside, although I > >hope not. (Blake, not you specifically - it was > just your post I > >selected to reply to.) I enjoy the banter, > occasional duels, and what I > >perceive as an overriding camaraderie. > > > > > Agreed. I saw a similar thing happen with the > LSU-ITINFO mailing list, > although its not a perfect analogy. Basically they > made it to where no > one could discuss their mighty informative mass > emails, even though we > all know OCS is FAR from infallible. As a result, it > sucked, and I never > paid much attention to it after that (NOTICE: Our > security is > unbelievably bad.... NOTICE: Our mail servers > suck...booooring). For me > it was a forum to stick one to 'the man' at LSU and > point out to them > when they just seemed lazy and were unwilling to > discuss the reasoning > behind stuff (case in point, STILL blocking ALL ICMP > to/from campus, > instead of filtering). They created an IT-FORUM for > those of us who > wanted to actually discuss things, but of course no > one joined but the > zealots, and I will bet not many will actually join > the BRLUG-politics > one, or not enough to get anything interesting > going. People are lazy, > myself included. You can also join the LSUOS-L at LISTSERV.LSU.EDU list. It is very low traffic, but in general very helpful, and forgiving of OT chatter that stays friendly. It is a list designed for discussions of Open Source Software. >And I also find that people dont > like to argue without > an "audience" to interject occasionally. There has > to be critical mass. > > I think the distinction has to be made between > arguments about Microsoft > vs linux TECHNOLOGY (not just this microsoft, but > lets face it, it is > prevalent) which is appropriate, I think, even if > they get flamey, and > Microsoft vs. Linux politics arguments, which most > of us agree are > inappropriate for this list regardless of flame > levels. Let me explain > why, at least from my perspective. > > Im a technology person. Microsoft's business > policies interest me about > as much as Citygroup's, or any other huge company. > Dont care at all. I > have learned that companies are not nice, on a > whole. Even if you think > they are, they arent They all try to seem nice, so > that you will not > hate them, but they just want to make endless sums > of money for their > investors. I have a BS in Management from Tulane. > What did it teach me? > I dont want to be involved in business at that > level. Makes me feel > dirty. Dont care about bill, dont care about ESR, > dont care about Theo > > To illustrate my point, I admit Microsoft is evil > and I really just dont > care, but I do care about the quality of thier > products. To further my > example, I also ride bikes. I dont care if Bianchi > is a responsible bike > company, I just like thier frames. So sure, bash a > Microsoft PRODUCT. I > may even defend it, becasue I have worked with it > for years and there > are some things I like about it. Want to talk NTFS > permissions vs. the > linux persmissions model? Lets do it. Talk to me > about how microsoft > hates google? Dont care in the least, thats why we > have that other > group. A tech argument can be backed up with hands > on experience with > the product. I dont want people to be afraid of > bashing a MS product n > this list for fear of being "political". I dont > think thats political , > as long as you back it up with something other than > "Cuz micr$oft sucks > and linux is free". Which you can. A ton of people > on this list are > smart and knowledgable and dont need to reasort to > that. > > There is one other major another problem, prevalent > even among tech > discussions - personal attacks. We are all > supposedly adults - can't we > all just hit a bong, er, get along? The > non-anti-microsoft people and > the anti-microsoft people I think can drop the > personal attacks. Right > guys? Its not that hard. Don't direct your posts at > a person, but rather > the thread, if possible. Dont post with the intent > of pising the other > person off (I think we are all guilty of that one - > I know I am). Dont > call people names. Just post what you think about > the product or tech > item being discussed, and try to be as polite as you > would if we were > all in a room together, where to open your mouth and > smart off could > possibly get you popped in said mouth by someone > larger and/or crazier > than you. Common consideration. Playground rules. I > think we can do it =) > > Just my 2 cents. Thoughts? Expletives? > > Chris > > _______________________________________________ > General mailing list > General at brlug.net > http://brlug.net/mailman/listinfo/general_brlug.net > Warmest Regards, Doug Riddle http://www.dougriddle.com "War is God's way of teaching Americans geography." - Ambrose Bierce
