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Date:      Wed, 03 May 2000 01:34:43 -0400
From:      "Daniel J. Zaccariello" <marisombra@mindspring.com>
To:        "Jordan K. Hubbard" <jkh@zippy.cdrom.com>, John Papalia <john@jpepconsulting.com>
Cc:        "Jeremiah Gowdy" <jgowdy@home.com>, smkelly@slashnet.org, insane@lunatic.oneinsane.net, advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: FreeBSD and IRC 
Message-ID:  <4.3.2.20000503012424.00d214e0@pop.mindspring.com>
In-Reply-To: <19128.957313734@localhost>
References:  <Your message of "Tue, 02 May 2000 20:00:57 EDT." <4.3.1.2.20000502195211.00aa9100@mail.jpepconsulting.com>

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At 05/02/2000 08:28 PM Tuesday, Jordan K. Hubbard wrote:
> > If the channel is NOT associated with the Project, get the FAQ changed.
>
>Actually, what the FAQ states is pretty clear though I'll repeat it
>here since I think people have, nonetheless, lost the thread:
>
> From http://www.freebsd.org/FAQ/preface.html#AEN210:
>
>Q: Are there FreeBSD IRC (Internet Relay Chat) channels?
>
>A: Yes, most major IRC networks host a FreeBSD chat channel:
>
>      Channel #FreeBSD on EFNet is a FreeBSD forum, but don't go there
>for tech support or to try and get folks there to help you avoid
>      the pain of reading man pages or doing your own research. It is a
>chat channel, first and foremost, and topics there are just as likely
>      to involve sex, sports or nuclear weapons as they are
>FreeBSD. You Have Been Warned! Available at server irc.chat.org.


This reads that "if you've tried man pages, web site, etc. etc. then maybe 
you'll find what you're looking for in #freebsd.  All it says is that it 
isn't tech support, it isn't a first choice resource.  That wording is in 
fact, NOT clear.

>All of the above text goes well out of its way to state several times
>that IRC is not a tech support medium and that if you're easily
>offended and/or can't deal with abuse, you shouldn't be in IRC in the
>first place.  This whole thread started as a result of someone
>complaining about the treatment he got when he attempted to use it as
>such, after all, and I really don't know how we could possibly have
>made the FreeBSD project's position on IRC or our total lack of
>responsibility for it any clearer.  It's in the FAQ, for chrissake.

( Correction, the thread started with someone voicing concern about FreeBSD 
advocacy due to the treatment of someone else, it was not complaining. )

I quote: " Channel #FreeBSD on EFNet is a FreeBSD forum"

A FreeBSD forum, now what exactly is that supposed to mean to a new person, 
you tell me?  Again, it's not clear, and the FAQ does not state what you 
claim.  I can't believe JKH of all people doesn't see the impact even IRC 
has on public perception of the project.  Regardless of what you want to 
think, JKH, you're not the one that decides what people new or old to 
freebsd think or feel as a result of mal-treatment in #freebsd.

>More to the point, I REALLY don't understand why the user in question
>took this question up on the freebsd-advocacy mailing list at all.
>It's like going into the local police station to demand that they
>force your sister to share her candy with you at home.

See above, the original post has something to do directly with FreeBSD 
advocacy.  The original post was polite and clear, unlike responses from 
supposed freebsd "advocates."  I could paste the entire original post in 
its entirety, but then again, we all have access to the archives, don't we.


>To put it another way, do not expect the readers of this list to be
>somehow able to social-engineer EFNET's #freebsd channel into being
>kinder, gentler or more socially responsible FreeBSD advocates.  It's
>an unachievable and thankless task and a frankly foolish thing to ask
>of the FreeBSD project.

Nobody ever asked for this to happen.

>One might just as well ask the readers of
>this list to capture a Somali warlord or bring a permanant and lasting
>peace in Northern Ireland while they're wishing for impossible things
>from inappropriate groups of people.

Again, a perfectly on topic discussion blown off by none other than:
>- Jordan


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