> Why oh why do people become so easily offended?
>
> I think Chris's comments on FAQ's and the like were
>well within the bounds of politeness. He was merely
>pointing out to some of the great unwashed that things
>such as FAQ's exist.
>
> I'm sure every net newbie has gone through
>a baptism of fire which was much more vitriolic
>at some stage.
>(as we all have with many other aspects of our lives).
>
Duncan
You make some carefully considered points, but I do not agree with you.
There is no necessity to use the OM List as a training ground for other,
less friendly mailing lists or indeed newsgroups.
Just because there are rude people in the world, we do not all have to tag
along and be rude, in person or on the Internet (or on the road, sorry to
all the Italian drivers whose prowess I commented on under my breath). I
do not believe that Mr Man who asked the question about batteries is any
the wiser about FAQs since the response mentioned no connection to the
Olympus FAQs.
Our recent treatment of new list members risks diminishing the list. We
demean ourselves by rushing at someone who asks a question in that way. Or
(conspiracy theory) are we witnessing the process of natural selection
being assisted by the old, Net users who want to revert to pre-CERN days
(allegedly the start of WWW) - all non code-writing hackers to be frozen
out?
We often hear stories about the Nikon or Leica lists being unfriendly
places; we do not need to offer gratuitous training in sarcasm or rudeness
to "help" others along the way.
Chris
"Mankind hopes vaguely, but dreads precisely." George F Will
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