On Sat, October 17, 2015 4:58 pm, Lisi Reisz wrote: > And contrary to Debian Mailing List CoC ...
Speaking of the Code of Conduct, a matter of much greater import is a severe constraint which is being forced upon e-mail users in general by the stupid and widespread practice of (1) associating an e-mail account with a cellular telephone number and (2) configuring so-called "smartphones" to sound an alert when a e-mail is received. One of the great advantages of e-mail is that it allows each party to work at his own convenience. Each party composes messages, reads messages, and replies to messages at a time which is convenient for him, taking little or no thought as to the time zone or time of day of the recipient. But with the advent of the absurd concept by which the smartphone rings whenever an e-mail message is received, some of those with whom I correspond are angered because I frequently dispatch e-mail messages in the wee hours of the morning -- such as 2 o'clock, 3 o'clock, and 4 o'clock -- with the result that the smartphone awakens them from sleep. I received a complaint from an associate who happens to be a computer-illiterate physician. When I explained the matter to him, he protested that professional responsibility demands that he answer his telephone whenever it rings, day or night. I replied that he is acting stupidly to have e-mail messages ring a number on which he habitually receives emergency phone calls; and that, moreover, he is acting stupidly to configure his smartphone ring at an inopportune time to announce every e-mail which arrives, unless he has implemented a mechanism to block spam as well as non-critical messages received late-night and early-morning. But the one who complains of being awakened in the middle of the night by an e-mail message is the same one who is fascinated by the ability of "Siri" to recognize simple voice commands. So I see little hope for remedy, other than a routine, daily deluge of e-mail spam which is sent between the hours of midnight and five A.M. until such time as smartphone users tire of being awakened from sleep. Russ
