peter@ontmoh.UUCP (Peter Renzland) (05/30/89)
My followup to CHK's recent article was an attempt to hold up a mirror. Unfortunately this resulted in an article which by its rude and angry tone may have done more to offend readers than to implore users to keep from bashing the good guys that go to bat for them. This not only reflected poorly upon myself, but may have damaged the sincere and caring efforts of others by supporting them with blunt language and caustic words. For this latter part I apologize. Perhaps my article should have taken the following form: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- chk@dretor.dciem.dnd.ca (C. Harald Koch) writes: > IMHO, A user group is *supposed* to be a bunch of people who get together > periodically to discuss something of interest to them. In every user group > that I have belonged to (an Atari group, the Amiga Developer's Forum, a > model rocketry club, ...) the group tried hard to keep things as informal as > possible. Politics were specifically disallowed, with a couple of minor > exceptions (*somebody* has to organize the thing!) Those who are interested in the what the charter of /usr/group/cdn says about its aims and purposes can easily find out from any board member. You may be surprised at the nobility of purpose contained therein. As for UU -- I started UU because many directors, members, and spectators dind't know (nor care) about UGC's *user* orientation. They cared about things such as "promoting Unix in the marketplace", their business, their careers, etc. I was one of very few "pure" users on the board. With UU I wanted to create a forum for those who love Unix, and who enjoy sharing that love with others of a like mind. Hence "Unix Unanimous". No politicking, no profiteering, no bickering. > I have never been to a UU meeting, or a /usr/group/cdn meeting. But from the > looks of things in this newsgroup/maillist lately, I don't want to either. UGC meetings are open (and free) to nonmembers. For several years I have posted event notices and newsletters on the net. Those who are interested can certainly inform themselves. Since UU meetings are strictly for enthusiasts, I would hope that those who would bring negative energy with them would just not be interested. There is also an acute shortage of seating space. There are no refreshments, no formal organization, and no budget, although I assure you that UGC will gladly fund any worthy needs UU might have, from meeting room rentals to major technical projects. As for can.usrgroup traffic, there was a time when this was strictly a (private) mailing list for actual UU types. Then somebody said, let's let the whole world in on it. I disagreed with that. Firstly because it changed the forum from a cohesive circle of friends to a public spectacle with unknown onlookers. Secondly because we already had a newsgroup, comp.org.usrgroup, which would have served that purpose perfectly well. (When the mailing list was made public, I felt as if someone had gone and publicised my house party in NOW magazine.) Harald has not been to a UGC meeting or a UU meeting. He concludes from the looks of recent traffic in can.usrgroup that he is not interested. UGC desperately needs members and directors who have positive contributions to make. There is a surfeit of members who do not participate, do criticise, and elect power-seeking, promise-breaking directors who hold users in contempt. > There seems to be nothing but political maneuverings going on. How easy it was for Harald to write those words. My work with UGC on behalf of *users* has cost me thousands of hours, and thousands of dollars. For several years I have quietly helped people like CHK. I've arranged meetings, written and produced newsletters, solved technical problems, and, generally, pitched in to fill gaps left by other directors' failure to do their jobs. I'm sorry -- I find it distasteful even to have to say these things. Who are the bad guys? Those board members who abuse power, abdicate responsibility, and betray trust -- or the apathetic members who don't want to know, don't care, and certainly don't want to get involved in politics. Their acquiescence and the propagandists' trivialization schemes put the tyrants in power. In China, students are risking their lives trying to bring about more lawful, less corrupt government. Thousands of Chinese scholars and students around the world are risking serious reprisals for supporting the call for human rights and accessible government as promised in their constitution. Here, in contrast, it is exceedingly difficult to find candidates who are willing to stand for a "user association" election. > I would love to hear that I am wrong. In the mean time, if you guys are > going to keep "bickering" (friendly or otherwise), can you keep it down to a > dull roar? (Perhaps email would be more appropriate?) And when a handful of fool-hardy well-meaning would-be knights step forward to resist the evil fire-breathing dragon that has been ravaging their homes, out come the taunting armchair critics and suggest: > Summary: Chill out. Suck on an ice-cube. Just to make it unnecessary to speculate: I'm not running. I don't have to. At the last election I received more *member* votes than any of the other incumbent directors, and then I was sacked from the executive by a unanimous (except my own, of course :-) vote of the *board*, which rubber-stamped a slate containing a president and two vice-presidents, all of whom are marketing executives. Now that is what I call political maneuvering! > Followup-To: /dev/null Of course Harald meant no malice. But why does this feel like hit-and-run verbal mud-slinging? (as if to say: "What you are doing doesn't interest me. Do it in private. And I'm not interested in discussing this. Anyways, I don't care about these things that are important to you guys -- I was just feeling bored.") I respect people who think for themselves, who take responsibility for their actions, and who stand up for their principles. I don't respect those who leave politics to the dirty politicians and then complain that politics is dirty. > -- > Grandpa Charnock's Law: | C. Harald Koch NTT Systems, Inc., Toronto, Ontario > You never really learn | chk@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca (long-term address) > to swear until you learn | chk@zorac.dciem.dnd.ca (my current job) > to drive. | chk@chkent.UUCP (my AMIGA at home) Peter Renzland
chk@dciem.dciem.dnd.ca (C. Harald Koch) (05/30/89)
In article <612519010.21650@ontmoh.UUCP> peter@ontmoh.UUCP (Peter Renzland) writes: >My followup to CHK's recent article was an attempt to hold up a mirror. >Unfortunately this resulted in an article which by its rude and angry >tone may have done more to offend readers than to implore users to keep >from bashing the good guys that go to bat for them. > >This not only reflected poorly upon myself, but may have damaged the >sincere and caring efforts of others by supporting them with blunt >language and caustic words. For this latter part I apologize. I too would like to apologize for the tone of my original article. It was not quite what I intended to write. My intention was not to criticize the efforts of the members of this group. Peter, Paul, Greg, and many others are fighting hard to represent the user population. I would like to apologize for sounding so negative, and to congratulate you all on your efforts. Unfortunately, I am as bad as every other techie I know at expressing myself in writing. What I was trying to criticize was the *appearance* of your actions in this newsgroup. I have not seen any of the issues discussed here (except for a long posting about the current state of affairs from Evan, I believe). Most postings lately have been snide remarks between several people, with little content. Perhaps I am being unreasonable even here. If so, I will shut up now. It was mentioned that these remarks may have been an attempt at humor. If so, they were almost certainly inside jokes. As all us netters should know by now, humor, sarcasm, etc. *never* comes across well in text. I apologize for my harsh words. I will try harder to become actively involved in unix-unanimous in the future. -- Grandpa Charnock's Law: | C. Harald Koch NTT Systems, Inc., Toronto, Ontario You never really learn | chk@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca (long-term address) to swear until you learn | chk@zorac.dciem.dnd.ca (my current job) to drive. | chk@chkent.UUCP (my AMIGA at home)