-f wrote:
dear list,
a nice cup of coffee in front of me, and as a big fan of
robert x., let me reflect a bit on the phenomenon called
"misc@openbsd.org"... will try to keep it short.
You failed to keep it short.
a couple of days ago, there was a quite big thread about optimized
kernel builds. the caller had a point (all of us do, no matter how
insignificant) but some of the answers were rude, childish and much
more trollish than the actual post itself. that thread made
me quite disgusted of misc@, the way people treat each other here.
i am a teacher. i have a degree in "teaching computer science".
when you learn to be a teacher, you must sign up to basic
psychology classes. obviously. teachers are role models.
obviously. i don't teach at the moment, and i am not sure
i will.
Then you're not a teacher.
i have found the fact that some of the kids will
form habits, opinions, god-knows-what-else based on my
personality quite scary and too big a responsibility.
for now anyway.
Please don't ever teach. If this is a legitimate fear for you, you'll
do much more harm than good if you actually try to educate anyone.
Everyone is a role model. If you don't think kids have already formed
habits and opinions based on your personality, you're mistaken.
but i am also what some might call nerd/geek (blech) and am
very familiar with the social implications of that.
>
what people here mostly fail to realize is, how impersonal
the internet really is. 99% of you don't know how old i am,
how do i look like, what's my life like. same is true from
my side towards you.
Exactly. It doesn't matter who you are, how old or young you are, how
you look. So why bring it up?
<thesis>
my point is, that you could be affecting(flaming) a developing
personality, a 13 year old kid who just happens to be very
intelligent, just installed the system and hurries off to the
mailing list to satisfy his knowledge hunger without realizing
all the mailing list nuances we see everyday (top posting,
long signatures, not reading the documentation beforehand,
posting the "taboo" questions). you just never know.
(well, except darren reed ;-)
</thesis>
You know what? This is the number one problem with the world today;
people like you trying to protect the young, innocent, whatever from
themselves and others. Since when is it *MY* job to police everyone
else's kids and feelings? I hope I do affect developing
personalities. I hope they learn that the world doesn't revolve
around them and that if you ask a stupid question, you get a stupid
answer. And, if posting to misc@ and getting flamed makes them cry,
they had better develop a thicker skin than that because the world is
a big, scary place.
it's all about experience. there is a baby born every second,
and no one was born wise.
Right. So? Who gives a crap. How do you think experience is gained?
By being handed information and never getting yelled at? No. Most
experience is gained through failure and disappointment. Don't sell
people short. Let them take a few hard knocks in life. They'll be
better people for it. It builds character.
everyone who uses email for more than 5 years knows just how
elusive this form of communication is. how easy it is to
misunderstand, misinterpret even a clearly worded email.
<advice>
1. if a mail makes you angry, never respond rightaway.
in the best case, sleep on it. in the worst case, go do
something else, come back in an hour, read it again carefully
and then respond.
2. if a mail makes you angry, in 85% of all cases, you should
just delete it, and forget about it. i am quite amazed
how hard it is for people to ignore stuff. you must exercise
your ignore muscle. saves awful lot of time and energy.
(i know, this mail is the opposite of this advice, but i slept
on it ;-)
Fuck you. Get angry. More people should get angry about things.
Lack of anger and isolation from adversity are the things that are
killing the world. If someone was beating you with a stick, would you
just ignore it? If someone is making laws taking away our freedom,
should we just ignore it? No. Get angry. Get pissed. Don't
tolerate complacence.
3. never assume that you are writing to an intelligent adult
person.
I never assume this. Especially in this case. But, if you're not
intelligent that's your problem. Not mine.
4. remember that email is archived and one day you might read
what you wrote years ago. you know, shame and stuff.
5. a whole planet could be reading what you wrote. you represent
your family, upbringing, country, etc, and last but not least
yourself.
Good. I hope the whole planet is reading this. If you're ashamed of
your opinions or anything else you write, that's your problem. I
don't really give a crap if anyone reads anything I write. I'm not
ashamed of myself or my opinions. And, if my family, country, or
anyone else is embarrassed by the things I do, that's THEIR problem.
6. chill out and relax. as one of my taglines say:
"good words cost no more than bad."
</advice>
Grow up. Give everyone a chance to get dirty, get excited, get beat
up, get humiliated, build character, and succeed at things they never
thought they could. Don't infect the world with your goody-two-shoes
attitude and "don't hurt the childrens' minds" mentality.
If anyone reading this is a 'developing personality' or a '13 year
old', heed this if nothing else. When you run into a person like the
original poster of the email, run, don't walk in the other direction.
He thinks he is trying to help you, but he's doing you a great
disservice.
Question authority. Question what anyone tells you as fact. Find
things out for yourself. Don't be afraid to fall down and scrape your
knee. Don't be afraid to try things. Don't be afraid of embarrassing
yourself or someone else. Trust yourself.
rvb
