On Mon, December 13, 2004 10:48 am, Derek Smithies said: > Steve, > This thread started with the question on behaviour. > a)would you send a letter to someone on company paper saying, > You are an idiot? > b)would you stand up at a conference and say, > Person X is an idiot > c)would you spend time at a linux fix up night and > shout at a newbie, you are an idiot > > The answer is no no no. My conclusion is that it is never never never > ok to flame newbies. Never. > [snip] OK, fine for newbies. The main point I was making was that you can't be sure that they are noobs, except (probably) face to face. I also pointed out that there are many powerful lobbies that wish to discredit and slow the acceptance of linux.
In answer to your questions: a) Yes, in the same letter to (*large muntinational software company*) that I threatened taking legal action against them. b) No, but I'm not sure how many academic conferences you've been to (: c) Never, but see the point above. Cheers, Steve. -- http://www.xs4all.nl/%7ewijnands/nnq/nquote.html#Q7
