aysiu
September 9th, 2005, 07:18 PM
Every now and then, someone with fewer than ten posts comes on the Ubuntu Forums and says something inflammatory, then wonders why the Ubuntu community doesn't say, "Thanks so much for coming in here and stirring things up!" The original post-er then wonders, "Why can't anyone who uses Ubuntu admit that there's anything wrong with Ubuntu/Linux? Why do they have to attack someone for criticizing?"
I've often read comments by people like this that seem to indicate they were well-intentioned, so I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt.
If you are well-intentioned, though, please keep these things in mind:
1. Going to a distro's forum is like going to someone's home. You don't go to someone's home and have the first remark out of your mouth be, "This place could certainly use some improvement. Let me tell you where to start." After you've lived there a while, and it's your home, too, your disparaging remarks will be more likely looked upon as constructive criticism. For now, they're rude comments from a guest.
2. You'll find that people (particularly on this forum) are helpful, humble, understanding, and patient, if you ask things as a simple question. I noticed that when someone created a thread entitled "What do you like least about Ubuntu?" many of the forum's regular members chimed in and made it a quite long thread. We're willing to admit there are things wrong with the OS if you ask us, but don't just start off by telling us, "Look, I've used Ubuntu for one minute. Let me tell you what's wrong with it." This is like telling someone, "Your mother's way too uptight. She just needs to relax!" It's a lot different from saying, "Does your mom ever get on your nerves?" and having your friend reply, "Yeah, she's just too uptight sometimes. She needs to relax."
3. There are several different tones with which you can ask a question. Let's say, for example, that the sound isn't working in your Ubuntu installation. You could say
a. Hi. I'm new. I don't really know that much about Linux, so please walk me through this step by step. I can't get my sound working. I tried opening the mixer, and I'm pretty sure it's not muted. Can anyone help me?
or you could say
b. What the f&*$ck is wrong with Ubuntu? It won't even recognize my sound. Every distro should do that straight away. What a pile of crap.
Now which do you think would get a more helpful response?*
4. Having a low post count doesn't mean you're an idiot, an amateur, or not a credible source. It does, however, mean (especially if you have under ten posts) that you're new and somewhat of a guest. It doesn't take much to become part of the family, but if your first seven posts are all bashing Ubuntu, it'll be hard for the other forum members to shake that first impression of you.
5. No one will attack you for no good reason. Sure, it'd be nice if everyone "turned the other cheek." I have to say that Poofyhairyguy is the most even-tempered member I've seen. I, however--like many other members--will be the nicest of nice if you ask politely but I'll get quite upset if you make a whole bunch of negative statements about Ubuntu and then say, "Hey, why is everyone getting upset?"
Bottom line: be polite, reasonable, and geniunely curious, and the community will be receptive and vulnerable. Be obnoxious, critical, and arrogant right off the bat, and the community will backlash. We're human that way... and Ubuntu is, after all, Linux for human beings.
* And a message from Stormy Eyes: when asking questions related to hardware, it's more helpful to mention exactly what sort of hardware you're having trouble with (make, model number, etc.) than to be vague. I'm more willing to help if somebody says, "I need help with ALSA on my Audigy2 card" instead of just "Help me with my sound card".
P.S. And if you really believe something is wrong with Ubuntu that needs fixing, talk to the developers (https://bugzilla.ubuntu.com/), not the users.
I've often read comments by people like this that seem to indicate they were well-intentioned, so I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt.
If you are well-intentioned, though, please keep these things in mind:
1. Going to a distro's forum is like going to someone's home. You don't go to someone's home and have the first remark out of your mouth be, "This place could certainly use some improvement. Let me tell you where to start." After you've lived there a while, and it's your home, too, your disparaging remarks will be more likely looked upon as constructive criticism. For now, they're rude comments from a guest.
2. You'll find that people (particularly on this forum) are helpful, humble, understanding, and patient, if you ask things as a simple question. I noticed that when someone created a thread entitled "What do you like least about Ubuntu?" many of the forum's regular members chimed in and made it a quite long thread. We're willing to admit there are things wrong with the OS if you ask us, but don't just start off by telling us, "Look, I've used Ubuntu for one minute. Let me tell you what's wrong with it." This is like telling someone, "Your mother's way too uptight. She just needs to relax!" It's a lot different from saying, "Does your mom ever get on your nerves?" and having your friend reply, "Yeah, she's just too uptight sometimes. She needs to relax."
3. There are several different tones with which you can ask a question. Let's say, for example, that the sound isn't working in your Ubuntu installation. You could say
a. Hi. I'm new. I don't really know that much about Linux, so please walk me through this step by step. I can't get my sound working. I tried opening the mixer, and I'm pretty sure it's not muted. Can anyone help me?
or you could say
b. What the f&*$ck is wrong with Ubuntu? It won't even recognize my sound. Every distro should do that straight away. What a pile of crap.
Now which do you think would get a more helpful response?*
4. Having a low post count doesn't mean you're an idiot, an amateur, or not a credible source. It does, however, mean (especially if you have under ten posts) that you're new and somewhat of a guest. It doesn't take much to become part of the family, but if your first seven posts are all bashing Ubuntu, it'll be hard for the other forum members to shake that first impression of you.
5. No one will attack you for no good reason. Sure, it'd be nice if everyone "turned the other cheek." I have to say that Poofyhairyguy is the most even-tempered member I've seen. I, however--like many other members--will be the nicest of nice if you ask politely but I'll get quite upset if you make a whole bunch of negative statements about Ubuntu and then say, "Hey, why is everyone getting upset?"
Bottom line: be polite, reasonable, and geniunely curious, and the community will be receptive and vulnerable. Be obnoxious, critical, and arrogant right off the bat, and the community will backlash. We're human that way... and Ubuntu is, after all, Linux for human beings.
* And a message from Stormy Eyes: when asking questions related to hardware, it's more helpful to mention exactly what sort of hardware you're having trouble with (make, model number, etc.) than to be vague. I'm more willing to help if somebody says, "I need help with ALSA on my Audigy2 card" instead of just "Help me with my sound card".
P.S. And if you really believe something is wrong with Ubuntu that needs fixing, talk to the developers (https://bugzilla.ubuntu.com/), not the users.