Offputting noobies...

Thread Starter

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,218
I've been watching this other very interesting thread started by @Roderick Young, when someone in the last post recommended that he looked at what C/C++ Open Watcom had to offer.

Anyway, what I found funny is the next to last paragraph in it's main page:

Activating yourself as a contributor in a Open Source project for the first time can be a frustrating experience. You may experience rude comments, irritation and anger from other participants and users, and other types of offputting surprises. Our advice is: be aware that it will happen sometimes, and be wise to the fact that the best way to handle it is to ignore it. Try not to engage in the same practice yourself. Be polite and ignore comments that are not polite to you.

I've seen that happening in this place from time to time... but it had never occurred to me that AAC is sort of another Open Source project, but with thousands of different subjects... and all of them with the same goal, to facilitate the learning of electronics... sort of an Open Source Electronics University...

And although I consider my presence here a rather small one, I'm proud to be a part of it.
My sincerest thanks to the owner, administrator and mods.
 
Last edited:

Papabravo

Joined Feb 24, 2006
21,158
I had always thought it would be neat to write a book. Now when I look back on the collected posts of the notable members, I think to myself "How 20th century". For some members on the list of notable members, this board is their written legacy. I suppose it will be mine as well.
 

Roderick Young

Joined Feb 22, 2015
408
...You may experience rude comments, irritation and anger from other participants and users, and other types of offputting surprises...
I've been lucky in my programming experiences, I guess. There is considerable debate on the best way to do something on any large project, but I've never been personally attacked.

I've never been personally attacked here at AAC, either, but am astounded at the lack of social skills that some of our members have. One minute, they seem normal, and the next, they go flying off the handle at some trivial disagreement, or are so sarcastically critical of a less-educated newcomer that it's tantamount to bullying.
 

Papabravo

Joined Feb 24, 2006
21,158
Should someone with exceptional social skills become the founder of a new forum where everyone is required to have exceptional social skills. All the people with tender feelings could go there and leave the rest of us to stew in our own bile.
 

Thread Starter

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,218
Should someone with exceptional social skills become the founder of a new forum where everyone is required to have exceptional social skills. All the people with tender feelings could go there and leave the rest of us to stew in our own bile.
Yeah... lets call the former group Eloi and the latter Morlocks
 

Roderick Young

Joined Feb 22, 2015
408
you've never been so insulted in your life?

you should get out more often :)
Smiley accepted, but seriously, I've rarely been insulted in real life. Can't say never, but it's pretty rare for me to get attacked. Maybe I'm just not a threatening guy? In the physical world, I'd say the scale of measurement is years between insults from people I've just met. Even on forums like Yahoo Answers, the spacing is similar (I mean on sections like Math and Science; I don't frequent controversial areas like Politics, Religion, Gender Issues). I'm not counting ribbing from friends, which is just playing around.
 

wayneh

Joined Sep 9, 2010
17,496
In the physical world, I'd say the scale of measurement is years between insults from people I've just met.
Ditto. I suppose it's not completely random. There's an element of actively avoiding places and situations where such a thing might happen.

The least respectful people I encounter are usually public servants. But even the IRS recently told me I was right and they had made a mistake. Felt like winning the lottery.
 

Thread Starter

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,218
@cmartinez You're obviously too well read, in multiple languages, for this motley crew of tech weenies.

Wells, H.G.,The Time Machine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Time_Machine
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054387/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0268695/
Actually, It's not that I'm well read... it's that I'm a readaholic... ;) Seriously now, if you enjoyed The Time Machine by H.G. Wells then you HAVE TO READ The Time Ships by Stephen Baxter... it's absolutely worth every minute of your time, trust me.
 

strantor

Joined Oct 3, 2010
6,782
*sigh*... why is that a universal thing?
Because we use the wrong words for things. When we say public "servants" we really mean public "authorities." And people who place themselves into these positions of authority do it for probably more than just two reasons, but mainly: 1). To be helpful and benefit society (to SERVE), and 2). To satisfy the eternal quest for dominance over others, as dictated by their human/animal nature. A public "servant" (read: cop, IRS agent, judge, military personnel, etc.) being illogically rude to you is nothing more than letting you know that you aren't the biggest or most awesome monkey in the tree, and he/she is. The message behind it, regardless of the chosen words, is "this insult will hurt, but you will not strike back, or else! And now you know who I am, and who you are, and where we both fit into the natural order of things."
 

Thread Starter

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,218
Because we use the wrong words for things. When we say public "servants" we really mean public "authorities." And people who place themselves into these positions of authority do it for probably more than just two reasons, but mainly: 1). To be helpful and benefit society (to SERVE), and 2). To satisfy the eternal quest for dominance over others, as dictated by their human/animal nature. A public "servant" (read: cop, IRS agent, judge, military personnel, etc.) being illogically rude to you is nothing more than letting you know that you aren't the biggest or most awesome monkey in the tree, and he/she is. The message behind it, regardless of the chosen words, is "this insult will hurt, but you will not strike back, or else! And now you know who I am, and who you are, and where we both fit into the natural order of things."
:( the truth hurts...
 

tcmtech

Joined Nov 4, 2013
2,867
On the subject of newbies I don't really have much of a problem with helping someone out even if their overall knowledge of the topic at hand is limited.

What does get to me is when I give a reasonable answer or explanation to them and it either gets totally ignored or a bunch of well meaning halfwits over analyze the newbies question and run rampant overwhelming the thread with every remotely conceivable 'what if' concern or imaginable safety concern or potential plausible site TOS scenario breach they can think of even if none of it related to it was asked about by the newbee themselves.

That's what flatout wears on me fast.:mad:
 

#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
What does get to me is when I give a reasonable answer or explanation to them and it either gets totally ignored or a bunch of well meaning halfwits over analyze the newbies question and run rampant overwhelming the thread with every remotely conceivable 'what if' concern or imaginable safety concern or potential plausible site TOS scenario breach they can think of even if none of it related to it was asked about by the newbee themselves.

That's what flatout wears on me fast.:mad:
I've had a few irritable moments with that. Somebody imagines something the TS did not say and answers his own imagination...or The Lawyer that seems to keep popping up in the Radio and Communications Forum. No time to continue that list. I'm supposed to be at work in 2 minutes, and it is obvious I'm running late.
 
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