[Ilugc] too much policing?
- From: rajanvn@xxxxxxxxx (Natarajan V)
- Date: Wed, 27 Apr 2011 20:30:04 +0530
On Wed, Apr 27, 2011 at 6:54 PM, Guruprasad <lgp171188 at gmail.com> wrote:
person to use the correct posting style, I guess it would be read, as
it is a reply to *their* post. We try to remind people about the
mailing list guidelines so that they can learn from their mistakes,
instead of the ideal 'learn from others mistakes'.
I have been trying a lot, not to get into this thread. But here goes .... :-)
<Premise>
I use GMail, both through web, as well as through KMail. I am a member
of this group since 1998 or 99 albeit mostly silent.
</Premise>
I appreciate the efforts made by a few to have this list as clean as
possible and also educate the new joiners. Good work.
Having said this, I should also say that, it gets plain
boring/considered Spamming/ Irritating, to see the same reply of
"Follow the rules" in 10 different threads, on the same day!
Sometimes, out of personal experience, some people send such "follow
the rules" mails, without even reading the context or checking if the
mails are really following the guidelines.
When a newbie comes and asks a (stupid) question, we generally ask him
to go and search. --> This is GOOD.
When someone else, with not so good experience in moving with the
group, particularly when the language is not up to the mark, we ask
him more questions and help answer the same. Sometimes, the tone is
harsh, but its still acceptable, as we are still helping him/her.
When the same person (as described above), forgets to follow the
rules, we just jump on him/her and scare him/her from asking
questions. Or otherwise, we just irritate them. This IMHO, is not a
good idea. The best option would be to leave that "policing" (for
want of a better word), to the person who is genuinely trying to
answer the question.
Scenarios:
A, B and C ask some stupid questions/ top posts
P, Q and R are the responders.
P sends a reply to all the 3 threads started by A, B and C, asking
them to follow the rules, without even reading the contents of the
email.
Q Sends a private email with the same "follow the rules"
R sends a genuine reply to the query sent by C, but also advices that
he will stop responding if C doesn't follow the rules in his/her
reply. R does not care about A and B.
In my personal opinion, I consider P as more of Spamming, Q a bit more
OK, but still a "Big Brother", while R to be a "good friend". And, I
think, "R"'s approach would be more healthy than P's. Q's approach is
less irritating to others, but, people have filters :-).
There is one more reason, why P's approach is a bad idea and in fact a
SPAM. When I search for similar queries before asking, I see this
thread X, with 1 reply (in a threaded view). I get excited and open
it, and only to find that it is a "follow the rules" mail. which is
really frustrating, amounting to trolling/spamming.
Now, there is a "D" who is a repeat offender. Kicking him/her out of
the list is a "good idea".
No personal offences meant. Request you to kindly take it in a healthy sense.
with regards,
Natarajan.
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