wzg91@ttacs1.ttu.edu (BROWN, KEVIN) (05/10/89)
It looks like I've made a lot of mistakes as of late, mainly due to my
naivete, stupidity, and lack of knowledge about the real world. I've
learned a lot from these mistakes (I hope) and am posting this message so
that those who are new to the net will hopefully not make the same
mistakes...
Edwin Hoogerbeets periodically posts a collection of articles that
contain a host of useful information. The one article of relevence here is
the one on "netiquette". Read it carefully, and make sure you follow every
rule and suggestion in it. If I had done this, I wouldn't have made my
first mistake (flaming Commodore). This, combined with some common sense,
should allow you safe passage in the newsgroup. Unfortunately, I don't
seem to have any common sense, so I had to learn the following the hard
way:
1. NEVER make a statement unless you know EXACTLY what you are talking
about. If you don't know something, then ask about it in the newsgroup or
do outside research. This applies especially to criticism, since criticism
causes people's emotions to run high and will cause them to look harder for
errors on your part. Also, make as few assumptions as possible, and try to
spell out the assumptions you make. This will help others determine where
you are coming from and may also help you determine what you truly know and
don't know.
2. Be specific. Never generalize unless you know that the generalization
holds true in most, if not all, cases. I made this mistake when I referred
to a disk operating system being callable from "anywhere" without
elaborating on what I meant by "anywhere".
3. Asking questions is probably the most harmless thing you can do. Many
people in the newsgroup are willing to answer your questions even if they
happen to be "stupid" questions. A stupid question is ALWAYS better than a
stupid statement, so ask if you don't know something! You'll learn a lot
more that way.
4. Always criticize constructively. If you find yourself about to
criticize something, and if your criticism is airtight, then offer a
solution. If you can't offer a solution, then simply offer your criticism
as a statement of fact ("XXX can't do YYY" instead of "XXX is a bad product
because it can't do YYY"). Generally, it is bad form to criticize. Make
statements of fact instead (but, per (1) above, make sure that you can back
up your statements). Unconstructive criticism will only result in others
getting upset with you.
5. If you are bringing up what is to you a new subject, make sure it
hasn't been brought up on the newsgroup in the past. If it has, then try
to find out the results of the previous discussion. I *REALLY* wish I had
done this, because if I had I wouldn't have said anything about AmigaDOS to
begin with (except to ask questions). If the subject in question hasn't
been brought up in the newsgroup before, try asking for references on the
subject first. There may be times when a subject is considered "general
knowledge" by others in the newsgroup.
5. When saying something, make sure your statement is complete. Never
assume that people will automatically make what you consider to be
"reasonable" assumptions. For example, when I posted my suggestion of
replacing AmigaDOS I neglected to mention that the replacement should be
compatible in terms of disk format and calling convention, thinking that
this was a reasonable thing to assume. The result is that people made
varying assumptions regarding compatibility and responded appropriately.
6. Avoid getting emotional when posting a message. Unless you are the
type whose emotions don't impair your thinking processes, getting emotional
about the subject you are posting about will quite possibly cause you to
say things that you will very likely regret later on, and might well cause
others to ignore your subsequent posts.
7. Finally, if you are considering making a suggestion, then make sure
your suggestion passes "real world" tests. For example, my suggestion of
replacing AmigaDOS doesn't hold water in the real world because (a) it's
too costly in terms of time, support, company image, etc. and (b) would
introduce many more bugs than exist in the present version of the software.
If you're not sure whether your idea is a "good" idea or not, try bouncing
it off some of your friends first to see what they think. Also, make as
few assumptions as possible when formulating your suggestion. For example,
I suggested that the internals of AmigaDOS be released to anyone who wanted
to rewrite it. This was a BAD suggestion because I failed to consider the
wonderful opportunity this would present to virus-writers (the basic
assumption I made was that "people are good" which is not always true).
Making a suggestion is probably the most difficult thing to do correctly
because it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to ensure that you've
taken every possible constraint into account. Those things that you fail
to take into account will very likely be brought up by others in the
newsgroup, sometimes with fatal (to your suggestion) results. It is
especially important that you know what you are talking about when making a
suggestion, since the purpose of a suggestion is to pursuade others to
follow a set of actions that you define. Unfortunately, a bad suggestion
can make you look (and feel!) foolish, so make suggestions with care.
Probably the most important thing to remember is that many of the people on
the newsgroup are professionals, and they act appropriately, so in posting
to the newsgroup you should show the same professionalism. While most of
them are probably willing to tolerate a certain amount of unprofessionalism
(I cannot truly speak for them, however, since I am not one of them), there
are limits, and if you cross those limits then your reputation will be
(perhaps permanently) tarnished. So BE CAREFUL.
But at the same time, don't let this message prevent you from posting to
the newsgroup. The people in it will be friendly to you if you are
friendly to them.
I do have a couple of questions for the newsgroup: firstly, are the above
"rules" and statements reasonable (in other words, did I learn the right
things?)? If not, in what way are they not reasonable? Secondly, are they
complete, i.e., did I neglect anything important? If I did, what did I
neglect?
My past messages have done nothing but anger individuals in the newsgroup.
It is my sincere hope that, through this message, I have provided some kind
of positive contribution to the newsgroup.
This is my last message to the newsgroup from this account, and probably my
last message for quite a while. My subsequent posts, whenever they occur,
will follow the rules as I defined them above, provided that those rules
are reasonable to the newsgroup. I have tried, to the best of my ability,
to follow those rules when writing this message.
Kevin Brown
Internet: wzg91@ttacs1.ttu.edu or Bitnet: WZG91@TTACS1 or
c8u00@ttacs1.ttu.edu C8U00@TTACS1
USnailnet:4817 Saxon Voicenet: (713)665-1911
Bellaire, TX 77401jwright@atanasoff.cs.iastate.edu (Jim Wright) (05/10/89)
In article <15114@louie.udel.EDU> wzg91@ttacs1.ttu.edu (BROWN, KEVIN) writes: | [guidelines for new users...] Secondly, are they | complete, i.e., did I neglect anything important? If I did, what did I | neglect? Read all the back articles in news.announce.newusers. This group should be the starting place for everyone on usenet. It explains much of the history of usenet, the "netiquette" for posting, various shorthands (e.g. IMHO, :-), et cetera). [ And pay special attention to the bit about .signatures! :] -- Jim Wright jwright@atanasoff.cs.iastate.edu
jms@tardis.Tymnet.COM (Joe Smith) (05/11/89)
In article <15114@louie.udel.EDU-> wzg91@ttacs1.ttu.edu (BROWN, KEVIN) writes:
->It looks like I've made a lot of mistakes as of late, mainly due to my
->naivete, stupidity, and lack of knowledge about the real world. I've
->learned a lot from these mistakes (I hope) and am posting this message so
->that those who are new to the net will hopefully not make the same
->mistakes... [rest of excellent article deleted]
This is the best apology I've seen on the net for a long time. Very
informative. Now if only more of us can be this helpful when we have to
"eat crow".
--
Joe Smith (408)922-6220 | SMTP: JMS@F74.TYMNET.COM or jms@tymix.tymnet.com
McDonnell Douglas FSCO | UUCP: ...!{ames,pyramid}!oliveb!tymix!tardis!jms
PO Box 49019, MS-D21 | PDP-10 support: My car's license plate is "POPJ P,"
San Jose, CA 95161-9019 | narrator.device: "I didn't say that, my Amiga did!"