[UFO Chicago] debian woody on an imac rev. b -- success! (fwd)

[Ian Bicking]

On Fri, 2003-01-10 at 18:04, Rory O'Connor wrote:
> at some level, flames can be quite entertaining.  but then again, this
> isn't 1994.  it's just not cool.  One of the things that bothers me
> about this list is how nasty people get, especially lately.  i really
> can't understand why.  i mean, would you really say these things to
> each other in person at a UFO meeting?

Damn straight they wouldn't.  Not only are the flames disrespectful of
the people involved, they disrespect the entire medium -- UFO the group,
UFO the mailing list, and even the whole damn internet.  (That might
come off as sarcastic, but I really do mean it)

If the medium is going to have any validity people need to take their
words as seriously as they do in their other interactions.  That's why I
don't like pseudonyms or anonymous postings -- it encourages people to
ignore and avoid the consequences of their speech as they bounce between
fake identities.  But even then the vast quantity of forums available
allows people to be obnoxious -- they can just move on when people stop
caring, or when they get kicked off, or whatever.

It's too bad we can't find good solutions to these social problems.  Of
course, people do act like this in real life.  But most of them get over
when they are 14 or 15 years old.  Maybe after that many years on the
internet and in mailing lists people will stop being obnoxious.  But
then we're in the September that never ended... we'll see what becomes
of it when people grow up.

-- 
Ian Bicking           Colorstudy Web Development
ianb@colorstudy.com   http://www.colorstudy.com
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