Re: [tlug] TLUG has become..?

[Matt Doughty <mdoughty@example.com>]

On Fri, Jun 14, 2002 at 03:18:36PM +0900, Stephen J. Turnbull wrote:
> >>>>> "shane" == shane eastwood <shane_eastwood@example.com> writes:
> 
>     >> Further, Chris' attitude is at odds with what TLUG has become ...
> 
>     shane> How fascinating, what has TLUG become?
> 
> A place where answers to FAQs don't start, "First, get the source ..."
> and continue by admitting that you didn't understand Linus's comments,
> and wishing the OP better luck in "getting the bitch working, I
> couldn't".

Heh, that last bit sounds like many conversations I had involving
Xfree and my Diamond Speedstar. ;) The irony was when I finally got
it working it was so slow I immediately went back to the console.
Who needs Xfree when you have all those virtual consoles to play
with anyhow? I do remember how thrilled I was when I finally got
that old proprietary sony cdrom drive to play nicely. Those were
the days no doubt about it.

> 
> OK, few of us _ever_ traveled in circles where understanding Linus's
> crypto-comments was the key to enlightenment, but there was a time
> when even the newbies on TLUG hacked source (to shell scripts and /etc
> config files at least) because that was the only way to get a working
> system.
> 
> Not that what TLUG has become is horrible, but some of us miss the old
> days.
> 

Yes, irronically as things have gotten easier the environment has gotten
less enjoyable.  I remember thinking that if things would just get a bit
easier everything would be perfect.  When I got that shiny toy called
ease of use I found out it wasn't what I thought it would be, and it
brought alot of baggage.  I find the same thing to be true for the 'net.
I miss the days when it was all telnet, ftp, mail, and usenet.  It was
to hard for the unwashed masses to use, and as elitist as it sounds I 
liked it that way. I think mostly I miss the days where honesty, no
matter how brutal, was appreciated.  Maybe I'm just remembering what
I want and filtering the bad.

As for what is frustrating about tlug.  Is the number of questions
that come through here that a couple of seconds on google would
answer exactingly. Yet even if I were to post "RTFM google: link #3"
I doubt the person would bother to use google the next time. If I
called said poster an idiot the next time they post a google worth
question someone would invariably find fault with me. In a word or
two, thin skins and unwillingness by some to atleast try solving their
problems before running to the list is what is wrong with tlug today.

This does not mean that tlug is a bad list, but like Stephen said some
of us miss the wild west like community of yore.

--Matt