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Date:      Fri, 5 Feb 1999 10:50:35 -0700
From:      Wes Peters <wes@softweyr.com>
To:        Licia <licia@o-o.org>
Cc:        advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: Women in FreeBSD ( was Re: Is there a reseller program?)
Message-ID:  <19990205105035.A5525@softweyr.com>
In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.4.05.9902050921180.18822-100000@o-o.org>; from Licia on Fri, Feb 05, 1999 at 09:31:52AM -0600
References:  <36BA340E.BFE4E9B5@softweyr.com> <Pine.BSF.4.05.9902050921180.18822-100000@o-o.org>

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On Fri, Feb 05, 1999 at 09:31:52AM -0600, Licia wrote:
> 
> On Thu, 4 Feb 1999, Wes Peters wrote:
> > Licia wrote:
> > > I tend to lurk so much primarily because I've had enough extremely
> > > unpleasant experiences regarding technical material in other forums (IRC for
> > > example) to make me very leary of exposing myself to such behavior again.
> > 
> > Ugh, IRC.  I gave that up about 4 months after it started; it became 
> > painfully aware that it was just an extension of the Compu$serve "cb
> > channels," with about the same level of maturity.  And this was in 
> > 1994 -- I don't even want to imagine how much worse it is now.  ;^)
> 
> I've left off and on but usually returned in the hopes that I could find a
> group of intelligent, mature people to chat with.  I've since given up hope
> and discontinued my use of IRC and have gone so far as to remove all my IRC
> software.
> 
> I now spend the majority of my online time on my own telnet BBS, where I can
> be assured that spam, trolls, etc, simply will not be accepted. :)
> 
> > > The result is I tend not to make comments in the technical lists, unless it's
> > > something I feel fairly sure I will not be maltreated over.
> > 
> > You need an attitude adjustment - who's to say the opinion of the idiot
> > at the other end of the socket connection has any validity AT ALL, let
> > alone more validity than yours?
> 
> Oh, that's not how I feel at all.  I've been programming since I was 10 years
> old (that's 18 years for those who are counting :) ) and I'm fairly confident

That's nearly as many as me, but I didn't start quite so young.
Why, when I was a kid, computers were as big as a house... ;^)
(Actually the PDP-11 was just coming out when I was 10.)

> about my skills and I take the time to reason out my opinions and ideas.  I
> tend to lurk to avoid abuse. 

I wondered about that, since your contributions to -advocacy have always
seemed confident, and you haven't seemed to shy away from differences in
opinion.  I agree with Don Wilde, all opinions are welcomed as long as
stated politely, and opinions will necessarily differ.  If they didn't,
we'd never accomplish anything here.

>  If I am confident that something I'm considering saying will not result in
> more abuse than I feel the issue is worth, I post.  If not, I don't.   I post
> as much as I do on advocacy, simply because I feel strongly about what needs
> to be done in these areas, and I've discovered that I quite enjoy the work
> involved.

Great.  Now write some articles somewhere.  You're obviously a good writer,
and FreeBSD needs your help.  Can you write for Daemon News?  An occasional
article would be great, a regular column (or contributing to one of our
existing columns) would be even better.

> (for those who are counting, I have given away my entire original order of
> 1,250 FreeBSD pens and re-ordered! :) )

What do I have to do to get one?  Order my own and give away the rest?
Those would be great for user group meetings, wouldn't they?

> I have noticed that the lists are much less prone to that type of behavior
> than IRC, but old habits die hard, and it will be a while I am sure before I
> am completely comfortable with things.  Additionally, I am a bit more active
> on the FreeBSD Applications Developer mailing list.  If someone posts on
> there, I most likely -will- reply to them, as applications are currently my
> main area of interest.

That'd make a nice column for Daemon News.  ;^)

-- 
       "Where am I, and what am I doing in this handbasket?"

Wes Peters                                                 Softweyr LLC
http://www.softweyr.com/~softweyr                      wes@softweyr.com

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