On Wed 18 Aug 2021 at 14:27:13 +0200, deloptes wrote: > Jonathan Dowland wrote: > > > I think the way forward this time would be to request one on the > > official Debian mailing list server, rather than elsewhere. But, > > such a list will only serve its purpose if it gets used *instead* > > of off-topic conversations on this list. Does anyone think that > > d-community-offtopic served that purpose? My general feeling is > > things are worse now than they were when d-community-offtopic was > > around and active, but I'm not sure that this is causation. > > I do not think it will work, because it is against the logic how > communication work. We communicate in the same channel and go off topic and > then back to topic. It is not natural to change list because something goes > off topic.
A decent argument. Put with the observation that off-topic in a -user thread can rapidly escalate, the idea of a separate "sin-bin" list is a non-starter. Also, it did not work in the past. > I am also sorry for triggering some of the off topic here, but I am getting > annoyed from time to time by peoples attitude as well. There are > some "morally superior" users that try to impose their views. However I > prefer to stop as soon as possible to reduce the damage. > I hope this list stays as is and people just learn to respect each other > (and "plonk" as little as possible). I hope so too. There is nothing wrong with some degree of social inreraction on the list; it might be said to grease the wheels. But think of the user who submits a technical query and those who attempt to address it. Would an influx of posts on AA batteries, 300 baud modems and short-term memory be seen as being respectful to *those* users? I am not suggesting that a touch of off-topic should necessarily be seen as disrespectful, but as a present campaign in the UK has it - Whem the Fun Stops Stop. Perhaps, in the final analysis, it doesn't matter. The good ship debian-user will continue to naviagte the choppy seas of Community assistance and support for Debian users. -- Brian.
