Re: I think Casey West is right

[nysus]

I don't know if I want to agree with you on this one. I think it all boils down to whether or not the poster appears to just want to take or do they appear to want to give as well. And I think what perhaps struck people about this post is the poster was the former type.

First, they post as AM. That sends out a bad vibe right off the bat. "Who is this guy?" Not that I think anonymity is bad but you must admit that it sets up an element of distrust: If I give to this person, how will they ever return the favor if they are anonymous? It's a psychological thing going on here.

But what really sets them up as someone who only wants to take is that they offer no kind of background on the project, have no greeting, and nothing like a "TIA". Overall, it just comes across someone who just wants an answer and isn't willing to contribute anything back to PM.

Part of what is important to making a community great is that everyone is congenial, polite and respective of eachother. Being a newbie shouldn't give you license to break these basic social rules.

Perhaps someone could have probed this person a bit more: What kind of software is it? What is your job?, etc. Maybe he/she would have opened up a bit more shown themselves to be thoughtful and considerate instead of a boor. But as you know, first impressions are usually the last impressions, that's just the way it is with us humans. So there is little doubt in my mind that the poster is largely to blame for what happened to them.

$PM = "Perl Monk's";
$MCF = "Most Clueless Friar Abbot";
$nysus = $PM . $MCF;