lets be nice

[Jon Phillips]

On Mon, 2007-02-19 at 22:16 -0800, Tim Newsom wrote:
> On Mon, 19 Feb 2007 21:35, ryan lerch wrote:
> > hi all,
> >
> > just a friendly reminder that we are getting a lot of people
> > subscribing to and posting to this community list that may not know
> > all the mailing list etiquette that you do.
> >
> > So please be nice to these new-comers, and be patient with them;
> >
> > * if a topic is raised that has been discussed and resolved before -
> > point them to the mailing list archives or where they can read about
> > the answer.
> >
> > Even better, find a place to summarise and document the discussion on
> > the wiki - a formatted wiki page is 100 times easier to read than
> > digging through months of mailing list archives... :P
> >
> > * if they ask, what is in your eyes a "stupid question" remember that
> > at one stage you knew little or nothing about the openmoko project:
> > they are just interested in getting an opensource mobile device (just
> > like the rest of us..  :P )
> >
> > * i have also noticed that many newcomers obviously have not been
> > members of online communities or online development communities
> > before; if you come across one of these people, be nice and show them
> > the ropes.
> >
> 
> Is it possible to have the 'welcome' email point them to those locations 
> automatically?  Then they could have the information right from the 
> start.. Plus maybe some general guidelines for posting... Might be good 
> also.
> 
> Just a thought.
> --Tim
> 

That's true, but since most of us don't have control over the list
(admin), social solutions are still the best way.

I would also add that initial welcome and response really sets up how
this community is perceived, but more importantly, how to get people
connected up so that they can contribute.

Channeling people's energy to the wiki, proper mailing lists,
discusssions, etc, is a great way to gain reputation on a project and to
help move everything along...

Thanks for bringing this up Ryan and Tim...and, as always, the best way
is to just "do" these things :)

Jon

-- 
Jon Phillips

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