On Thu, Apr 27, 2006 at 02:51:24PM -0800, Elliott F. Cable wrote:
I don't think Timwi got up on the wrong side of the bed - at least, not him specifically. I think this entire mailing list needs some de- toxification - Just don't worry about personal stuff. Original poster, you should PROBABLY have thought out your comment a bit before posting it, although I understand it totally - what you meant to say is that this is a majorly english list and that it will be EASIER for us to help the user in the most comprehensive way possible if he could try to phrase his request in said language. Timwi, what he said was not completely the nicest way to greet a non-english MediaWiki user, but scolding him in a public list was not the solution. Jay - don't label him as an arguer; he isn't. He was angered by the (appearantly) unfriendly treatment of a new poster to the list - as you could be in another circumstance; let him be! And Chad, think for a moment about what was going through Timwi's mind when he replied - we don't always have the chance to fully think things through before we speak, and a mailing list is no different.
That notion that he got up on the wrong side of the bed today arose because this is not the only thread in which he has apparently assumed bad faith from the beginning in response to others' commentary. This isn't meant to provoke further discussion, only to indicate my thinking on the matter. Since misunderstanding is probably the biggest contributor to excess heat, I figure additional understanding of my perspective might come in handy.
No insult or other negative connotation is intended. It's more a case of wanting to prompt others to assume good faith when possible. A single incidence would not have prompted me to comment thusly: multiple incidents, however, make me think a comment might help to cause people to think more before posting to the list. I don't want an attempt to halt potential arguing in this thread to prevent that from getting across, when the intent is to reduce unnecessary arguing in more threads than just this one.