[Asterisk-Users] G.729 . . . I SMELL SMOKE!

[Steven Critchfield]

On Sat, 2004-10-23 at 01:06 -0400, Jim Van Meggelen wrote:
> Few will disagree that the careful application of netiquette will be a
> benefit to any newsgroup/mailing list/board; and top posting is
> something that should be used sparingly. Nevertheless, top posting is
> not the horrid crime some might have us believe. When used
> appropriately, it serves very well, and only causes offense to the
> ideologues. "Me too"-type top posing is usually of no benefit, but when
> someone is commenting on a tangled and involved thread, it can make
> sense to frame the entirety of the thread in a thoughtful top post.

Don't forget the same people who refuse to trim the bottom of the post
and we end up with 20(your case only 1) copy of the mailing list footer.

> Then we get to the most dangerous beast, the abusive, expert troll. This
> is someone who clearly is very intelligent and articulate, and could
> argue their value due to a) their willingness to contribute, b) their
> level of knowledge and c) their fantastic writing skills. Unfortunately,
> these folks reduce their value to almost nothing by virtue of their
> pathetic lack of any manners whatsoever. They will drive away more
> people than they help -- and that doesn't bother them in the slightest.
> What a waste of talent.

As I am sure to be painted by the above brush, let me offer just a small
point here. I have had just a bit of time to think this over after
politely listenening to the same argument from another person this
weekend. 

You seem to not realize that those who are knowlegable are only so due
to the vast amount of time we put into learning. I'm sure there are many
people who are like me and are trying to spend a lot of time learning
several projects that have no overlap. While we seek all this knowlege,
I hope the others like me actually try and do things outside of the
computer world as well. 

Now I want you to realize that many of the really newbie or lazy (these
are NOT equal in the level I detest) questions that are answerable with
a quick browse of the wiki or a simple google search end up being
equivalent to SPAM in my mailbox as I try and search for information
that furthers my knowlege. Understand that I learn from looking at what
others are doing, and answers to others questions. 

So when you try and run off those who know a fair amount but don't meet
your manners requirement, I want you to think about why you feel newbie
or lazy users should be of higher value than those with the knowlege?
Why do you wish to preserve their participation at the detriment to
those who have more answers than questions?

Hoping that the person I talked to this weekend is actually reading. I
don't consider myself any more important than anyone else in this list,
but rather I like others, wish to defend this channel of information
from descending below useful signal to noise ratio.    

> We all understand that it is generally best to avoid feeding the trolls,
> but every now and then the townsfolk must grab shovels and pitchforks,
> and drive these beasts back into the caves from whence they came; where,
> one hopes, they will contemplate the value of a few simple manners, and
> perhaps even one day to attempt to give to the community without the
> needless rancour.

-- 
Steven Critchfield <critch at basesys.com>