Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2001 20:42:58 -0600
From: "Josh Paetzel" <jpaetzel@hutchtel.net>
To: "richard childers" <fscked@pacbell.net>, "Ted Mittelstaedt" <tedm@toybox.placo.com>, "Aaron Hill" <hillaa@hotmail.com>, <gferris@mail.unam.na>, <freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG>
Subject: Re: A retraction & correction ('Was: Re: Pimping FreeBSD Information (was: 'Order')')
Message-ID: <005a01c0a38b$bb5586e0$6100000a@vladsempire.net>
References: <004101c0a094$fab2ce00$1401a8c0@tedm.placo.com> <3A9BC4C1.ABD81182@pacbell.net> <3A9DF19C.1FC6F993@pacbell.net>
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----- Original Message -----
From: "richard childers" <fscked@pacbell.net>
To: "Ted Mittelstaedt" <tedm@toybox.placo.com>; "Aaron Hill"
<hillaa@hotmail.com>; <gferris@mail.unam.na>;
<freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG>
Sent: Thursday, March 01, 2001 12:52 AM
Subject: A retraction & correction ('Was: Re: Pimping FreeBSD
Information (was: 'Order')')
> I'd like to correct my previous statement.
>
> A quick review of the archives shows that Ted Mittelstaedt has
contributed
> copiously to freebsd-questions in the recent past.
>
> I didn't do a precise breakdown but I did not see a lot of
references to pushing
> his book in the body of publically posted messages; this is a recent
phenomenon,
> as far as I can tell.
>
> I didn't see any detailed answers, however, to others' questions; a
detailed
> answer is one that includes pathnames, syntax details, and at the
very least a
> reference to the relevant man pages, by my book. I would expect that
level of
> detail from someone whom had written a book; wouldn't you?
>
I've been subscribed to FreeBSD-questions since July of 1996, and I
have come to respect the knowledge (especially in networking) that Ted
brings to this forum quite a bit. You can do all of the statistical
analysis that you want, but he does help people, and he does answer
questions. He even gives detailed help from time to time.
You can expect what you want, but this is a volunteer effort. I spend
a minimum of an hour a day reading and responding to emails from this
list every day. I don't always give specific help, either. Sometimes
people just need to be pointed in the right direction, not spoon fed
every little detail. There's nothing wrong with that.
I did my own quick search of the archives, and I didn't find any
answers to any questions by you at all. I did find a couple of
questions that you asked, though. I am not claiming that I did an
exhaustive search, but I did search for richard childers in
the -questions archive search utility.
I don't have any problem with Ted pushing his book. I don't feel that
he is with-holding information in order to increase the sales of his
book. I am glad that he is letting people know about it. I feel the
same way about Greg Lehey mentioning his book in his posts. They are
both great books, and would be wonderful resources for anyone who is
trying to learn FreeBSD.
As far as spam goes, you've been the source of far more spam than Ted
ever has been. If Ted gives an answer to a question and recommends
his book, that's still just one email for me to browse through. Count
how many emails the thread that you started has generated.
Josh
> (Maybe I didn't look hard enough. I suppose I can drill down a few
more layers
> and do a statistical summary, easily enough ... at the expense of
some time, I
> have thus far refused to invest.)
>
> But this is the heart of my objection; one should contribute one's
knowledge
> freely if one is going to participate in this forum; one should not
use it as a
> springboard for one's business interests, at least publically; and I
would
> discourage using private communications arising out of public
exchanges as a
> basis for offering one's book, also. After all, in that direction
lies the next
> step, which is collecting the addresses of all participants and
targeting them
> with spam (which appears to be happening, by the way; something to
think about
> next time one includes freebsd-questions in the Cc: field).
>
> ... and I saw lots of questions from Ted, himself, asking for
someone else to
> explain what he did not understand. Hmmm ... does FreeBSD get a
slice of the
> book's profits? After all, they are providing a forum through which
this
> expertise is being gained, be facilitating access to the collective
expertise.
>
Heh, maybe we should GPL all FreeBSD knowledge so there is not way for
anyone to make money off it. I mean it is free, so admins for it
should be free as well. I'll tell my boss about that, I bet he'll be
happy as hell.
> I strongly believe in parity as a principle applicable in realsm
outside of
> telecommunications or error correction; I believe it has
applications in public
> policy and public life as well. I have already suggested to Ted
Mittelstaedt
> (privately) that this was inappropriate behavior. I don't think Ted
took my
> objection seriously.
>
That's because you are hard to take seriously.
> I suppose I could just unsubscribe, or implement spam filters that
filtered
> anything with "Mittelstaedt" in it; but what a price to pay, and
what a precedent
> to set (and follow); where does this end?
>
The first option would be nice. Make sure if you put filters in, that
you filter mail from yourself to the list as well.
> So I'd like to retract my statements, below; but I would like to
encourage Ted to
> post some of these fabulous tips he's pushing everyone to invest
their money in
> buying ... at the expense of the FreeBSD server ... and at the
expense of the
> social fabric that composes the FreeBSD community ... of which I am
a member.
>
If I were Ted, I would seriously consider emailing you a copy of the
book twenty or thirty times a day.
Josh
<SNIP meaningless drivel>
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