It's valid to ask for more specifics. You're right that "combative" just ends up being an alienating word.
Here's an example that I think everyone can benefit from. When I see a comment that reflects a kind of tired, angry emotion about having to point out a mistake or breach of protocol yet again, I always flinch. This is because it is almost certainly the first time for the person who made the mistake. And, it seems unfair to burden them with the anger that comes from the mistakes of others who came before them. You can see that in some of the earlier comments in this thread. I see why people get worn out having to say things over and over, especially when they are documented in wikis, but there are other factors, most importantly that new people are joining the community every day. Compare a statement like this: "I know you may be relatively new here, so to help you be successful, here are some ideas for how to structure for your project" to a statement like this: "I am disappointed to yet again see someone doing this wrong and ignoring the requests of the community" In my writing world, this is a question of audience. The first version speaks to the person who posted. The second one speaks to all of the people who already know each other in the forum. The first one is inherently inclusive. The second one excludes the newcomer from the conversation. This is just an example---food for thought. Courtney On Wed, May 3, 2023 at 3:41 PM Mike Thompson <miketh...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > On Wed, May 3, 2023, 1:00 PM Brian M. Sperlongano <zelonew...@gmail.com> > wrote: > >> I would caution against hyper-simplifying the combativeness of >> the mailing lists >> > I am not sure using a term such as "combative" is going to be effective in > bringing about the change you desire. First the term has strong negative > connotation, and second it is non specific. The people you view as > combative probably don't see themselves as combative and don't what > specifically is causing you to perceive them as such, and thus don't know > what to do differently. > _______________________________________________ > talk mailing list > talk@openstreetmap.org > https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk > -- --Courtney Cook Williamson survivalbybook.substack.com
_______________________________________________ talk mailing list talk@openstreetmap.org https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk
