On 17 Sep 2008, at 00:27, b.n. wrote:
...
In any case, even if r0bertz is a clueless idiot, the only sane
approach is even in this case to calmly and rationally explain (or
providing links to information) why what he was doing was, in your
opinion, wrong.
To be completely fair, if you deal with other peoples' problems on IRC
on a regular basis then you will know the number of idiots to be quite
staggering. There is an unending supply of them - if only we could
fuel automobiles with idiocy! - and always another one ready to pop
out the woodwork the moment you've dealt with the last one. It is
staggering how many questions on IRC can be answered with a simple
Google.
IRC is an informal medium and maybe someone just had a bad day.
I'm not saying the reaction of the devs in that IRC log was right -
I'd probably get the hump, too, if I were the subject of such rude
dismissal - but maybe treating the user that way was an understandable
mistake on the devs part.
In many ways being told you're an idiot is better than simply being
ignored, because at least it gives you the chance to say, "ooops, am
i? can you explain what i did wrong, please?"
Finally, I might add that the log we've seen posted was taken without
any context. Perhaps the user is known on the channel for his idiocy,
for winding the devs up, for asking stupid questions on a daily basis
and not listening to advice given? We don't know.
Stroller.
