Ok, ok, I give up. For what's it's worth, here's what I have learned from the day's events:
1) Don't respond to mail when you're already in a poor mood. 2) In fact, don't respond to mail at all if you're going to be expressing your opinion, unless you've got some homies on the Debian list who will "back" you. People know Karsten, and they don't know me, so he wins by default. 3) Many Linux users are full of technical skills, but lacking people skills. (This was basically what I was told in one reply) Sad, but apparently true. I should just accept this and move on. 4) Don't make any requests unless you can help to carry them out yourself. (By that logic, I can't report bugs in Apache, since I can't fix them, and I shouldn't request documentation unless I have the time to write it). 5) It's ok to make disparaging remarks about people if they're clueless Windows users (who come from a totally different paradigm than Linux users), but it's not ok to make disparaging remarks at those who get after these "clueless users". 6) Appearing to be a bit of an elitist and bashing clueless Windows users are good ways to gain popularity in the community. We were all newbies ourselves once. Personally I've been using Linux for a couple years, and I've done a hell of a lot of research on my own to get things working properly. I didn't have anyone to help me. I also came from a Windows background, and I recognize the vast differences in the Windows and Linux communities. Because I remember what it was like to be a newbie, I want to help others who still don't quite know what Linux is all about. Telling people that you're adding them to a killfile because you don't like their sense of community != a good way to get new community members. Maybe you don't really care if more people start using Debian, but I do, because of what a great experience it has been for me. All I really wanted to say with my original post was, "give this guy a break, and at least explain things nicely to him". Unfortunately, I got caught up in the negativity of the situation, and it showed. I'm really a decent guy who usually just lurks on this list, and provides help where I can. Do I hate people who say, "Just give me the answer to this, and do the research for me"? Yes, but I still try to be civil to them, or else not say anything at all. My apologies to Mr. Self; he may be a really great guy, but the tone of some of his emails seemed a bit elitist, and that happens to be something that really bugs me. Linux is a community thing. It's not a gated, "members-only" place for people who already have the right skills. It's a "come on in, everybody's welcome sort of place". Or at least, I think it should be. Unfortunately, I did not express this properly, and for that I am truly sorry. With that said, I will exit quietly, and go back to lurking. My apologies for sucking up your bandwidth. Tom
