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Date:      Sun, 15 Dec 2002 11:59:29 +0100
From:      Tobias Roth <roth@iam.unibe.ch>
To:        "John L. Utz III" <john@utzweb.net>, Nick Jennings <nkj@namodn.com>
Cc:        freebsd-mobile@freebsd.org
Subject:   Off topic mails (was: Libretto 100ct and X)
Message-ID:  <20021215105929.GA9296@speedy.unibe.ch>
In-Reply-To: <8665tvu8ez.wl@utweb.net>
References:  <20021213153430.D21307@namodn.com> <20021214114522.GA3509@speedy.unibe.ch> <8665tvu8ez.wl@utweb.net>

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yes, this mail is off-topic for freebsd-mobile. i am cc'ing this mail to the list because two people carried this discussion, that i started privatly, to the list and now i feel i have to set some things straight.
i apologize to all the people who don't care about our discussion. you are right, this mail does not belong to freebsd-mobile, and I promise it's the one and only mail i send to the list about this topic.


On Sat, Dec 14, 2002 at 10:02:12PM -0800, John L. Utz III wrote:
> Hey;
> 
> I'll go one step farther.
> 
> gosh tobias, your mail to Nick gives the distinct impression that you 
> dont know very much about mobile computing or about how email lists work.

I just sent this mail to Nick, didn't see your mail or I would have you cc'ed:


>  Tobias, I completely disagree here, and I do not think i am alone. A
>  mobile device, whether it be a laptop or a PDA, depends on an efficient
>  and easy to use windowmanager (if a graphical interface going to be
>  used at all).
 
the question 'what is a good, lightweight windowmanager that can be used
+conveniently without a mouse' is a very general question that has 1) nothing to
+do with freebsd at all and 2) nothing to do with mobile computing. that
+questions belongs to freebsd-questions at best, an even better place would be a
+general, non-freebsd targeted list.
 
welcome questions target both freebsd and mobile computing, and not, as in your
+case, general, unix-related questions.

>  If I am wrong, and this list is *not* intended for people to share their
>  experiences using FreeBSD on mobile devices, then I will concede and
>  un-subscribe from this list.
>
>  In the future, I would appreciate you keeping your opinions to the list
>  and not sending them to me in a personal email.
 
no. replying to what I think is an off-topic question to the list is no better
+than actually sending the off-topic mail. i mailed you privatly because I do
+not want to clutter the list with just another off-topic mail. not publicly
+replying to off-topic messages is general mailing list practise.

john, let me emphasize again that this list is about things that have to do with both freebsd and mobile computing at the same time, the hyphen between the two words should be taken as an and, not or.
I don't think you disagree with me that there is a better list to ask questions that have nothing at all to do with freebsd than freebsd-mobile.

> How did you ever get the impression that you where the arbiter of content on
> this email list?

now you are attacking me personally. i never tried to give that impression, i am just tired of getting so much off-topic mail. welcome questions would be something like this:

 - freebsd isn't working on my foo laptop, can someone help?
 - apm isn't working on my foo laptop
 - the bar wireless card acts funny
 - anyone tried this tiny new subnotebook with freebsd?
 - is it possible to use dialup with the irda port on my foo laptop and my mobile phone?
 and so on..

Do you really think a question like 'What is a good lightweight wm that doesn't rely too much on the usage of a mouse' fits in there somewhere?

i am talking about common sense here, you just don't ask for a windowmanager on freebsd-mobile.

i am also aware that many many people send off-topic questions like this, but just because everyone else does it doesn't make it right.

i sent mails like I sent to nick to a lot of people, most of them do not make such a fuss about it and just accept the rules. and certainly, they do not try to carry a discussion like this to the list. if the original mail wasn't off-topic for freebsd-mobile, then sure as hell our little discussion is.

> It seems to me that an apology is in order.

you wish... just because you try to embarass me in front of the whole list doesn't make me change my stand. I talked to other list maintainers, not freebsd-mobile in particular but freebsd-xyz (yes, those that actually ARE in charge of the list content) and they share my opinion.


kind regards, t.

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