Re: What's happening on ubuntu-users , and...

On Thu, Jun 12, 2008 at 5:33 AM, Peter Garrett <peter.garrett@optusnet.com.au> wrote:

I think that we are seeing the usual evolution of a list as the project
becomes ever more popular. In 2004-6 (roughly), this list really was
mostly about technical help and discussion, and I think the
"demographic" was *similar* to that on, say, a Debian list. As Ubuntu
has become more and more popular, we have seen an influx of people who
don't come from the "traditional" Linuxish/*nixish backgrounds. The
kinds of questions have changed, and the level of discussion has perhaps
dropped in quality somewhat.

That's a nice way of saying that the signal-to-noise ratio has
deteriorated ;-)

It could be as there are more beginners that like me don't know anything about Linux (and ubuntu) and I think it is good in some way.

Fortunately, there are some excellent posters who continue to provide
good advice and help. Inevitably, there are now more of the other
variety than there used to be.

A big thanks to all of them as they really help to make the change between Windows and Ubuntu and are present when we need help because we made a stupid mistake

* We are likely to see some people disappear, because the nature of the
"community" has changed in ways that don't fit their perceptions of
what "should" be happening, or their interests no longer fit the
changes.

Some newbby don't take the time to search and often answer not very nicely when you try to help and that is sad to read

* We are going to suffer from the loss of people who are simply tired
of repeating the same answers again and again. If you spend enough time
trying to help, you eventually get to a stage where it often seems
better not to say anything, rather than be seen as "arrogant" or "a net
nanny" or a "self-appointed expert", and so on....

Why, that is not arrogance to know and help if somebody can't take an answer he or she can look for an answer by himself/herself. I read before that I begun to use the list that the answer could be impolite and I could be insult by asking a question. It happened only once because I didn't understand how not to top post and I admit it was because of my mistake never because of the question.

* All of this is perfectly normal and part of the expected changes in a
large project that has a wide variety of participants.

* Lest this be seen as a long-winded illumination of the obvious - the
point of sending it is to try to summarise the reasons for recent
*cough* long threads dealing mostly with very "human" issues - like
"why are we getting irritated by a few loud and obnoxious posters with
no clues", and so on.

I think it is ok for people who take the time to answer to be irritated sometimes, so what just get over it stay polite and thanks for the help.

To those who dislike terse and to-the-point answers: get over it. Those
terse but accurate answers are the life blood of a project, and usually
come from the people who know the most, and are willing to communicate
their knowledge.

To those who are used to giving terse-but-correct answers: Ubuntu is
not Slackware or Debian, and a few more warm-fuzzies won't hurt you when
you deliver your knowledge ;-)

It is to the newbby to make an effort as he or she is of need of help not the other way around, at least it is the way I see it. If the post is going out of topic because of the person who ask the answer just stop answering that will save you time.

So for a conclusion I will just thanks the list for who they are and there help and tell newbby to stay polite and try to understand the people who are helping them.

Sincerely

Meg
(I hope that I quote the message correctly, if not let me know)

* the hard-line "teach a man to fish" crowd - sit back and laugh at
yourselves a bit.

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Re: What's happening on ubuntu-users , and why it's normal

Ashley Benton

2008-06-12