This is an edited copy of something I posted to -private yesterday. I think it is relevant to all the discussions here, and have a few things to add.
Back in the old FidoNet days, the policy for discussion was something along the lines of: Don't be excessively annoying, and don't be easily annoyed. I think that we all need to make sure we step back before we post to a mailing list and consider: does this post really help make Debian better? Along with that, there are a lot of arguments here lately. It is natural for people to want to "win" an argument. But too often, we forget to ask: is this argument worth the trouble? There have been so many arguments lately that aren't really worth it, and in the end, the participants all wind up looking silly for having perpetuated that discussion. I am annoyed with this acrimonous attitude in Debian, and have been for years. The scary part is that it's actually *better* than it used to be. But that doesn't mean that we are all acting like responsible people all the time. You might want to read my blog post [1]. There are quite a few people in Debian that have done things to annoy me, including many of the people on your list. The right thing to do about it, though, is to forgive and move on -- not to stew about it for weeks or months. If you forgive and move on, you show that you are being a productive member of the project, instead of one that fans flames. When I wrote that blog post, I knew it would be carried on Planet Debian. I didn't write it specifically for Debian, but I feel it is tremendously relevant for Debian. There are a lot of people that carry their dissatisfaction with one thing into other areas, and it doesn't hep Debian. Let's remember to always evaluate things based on their technical merit, not based on the list of people in favor or opposed to them. To those who are withdrawing because of various recent events, I would say this: please consider trying to change Debian for the better instead of leaving it now. Remember that dunc-tank is still a one-time experiment, and with your voice, could stay that way. Remember that political winds can change. To those who say all this makes Debian less fun: you're right. I've found Debian to be a lot more fun if I unsubscribe from a few mailing lists. There's no need to be involved with every discussion. We all need to compromise, to work together on things rather than try to beat each other over the head with policy, GRs, the constitution, and all the other bureaucracy. These are tools to empower us to work together efficiently and produce a great OS. Using them to try to "win" over others is not helping. Let's try to be more open-minded, and at least understand that people with differing viewpoints are still trying to do what's best for the project. This attitude I have seen all to often recently (including from myself) of "I have a strong conviction that action A is best for Debian, so I will do everything I can to make A happen, no matter what happens as a result" is not healthy. I've seen that from every side of every debate we've had recently. Does it remind you of any current world political situation? Let's try to be better than those people. As an example... we have this dispute about policy. Rather than rush to a GR right away, and rather than start making accusations of impropriety against both of the main people involved in it, why not try to help everyone understand why the dispute exists and help to make it go away? The GR will be just as good if it waits 24 hours. And in the meantime, perhaps things can get resolved just as well -- but without weeks of debate, and faster than a GR. (In fact, I saw aj and manoj talking about it on IRC yesterday, and yes, it seemed that they were inching closer towards agreement.) Let's give peace a chance[2]. [1] http://changelog.complete.org/posts/555-We-need-to-follow-the-Amish-example.html [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Give_Peace_a_Chance -- John -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
