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On Thursday 10 May 2007 12:44, george wrote: > I'm a relative beginner and I think the LUG is great and does what was > intended. But it is not for everyone. I spend at least an hour per day > (alright, 2) 'playing' with linux and the LUG is a good source of > information for me. My wife, on the other hand, would not touch it with a > bargepole, although she spends at least 2 hours per day sat at a computer > for pleasure. She is just not interested in how it works and has no > intention of finding out. If it didn't work and I was not there to fix it > I believe she would just abandon it and go back to other ways of doing > things. And I believe that a large majority of computer users feel the > same way. > Very true. My wife is a Linux user, but never gets involved with message boards, forums or lists. Different people prefer to work in different ways.... > Let's face it, most of us are at least a touch 'nerdish'. You have to have > an interest in a subject before committing the amount of time we do. And > as for posting to the list. I reckon there are a large number of lurkers > out there or the membership is very small. A lot of people work on the > principle that if you keep your head down you won't attract thrown rocks. > I think we are all a bit "nerdy" or "geeky" ;) Whether it is Linux, Mac or Windows, people who like to tinker or try to get a little more involved with their OS or PC are always viewed as such. Personally, I see it as a compliment! At least one list "lurker" is known to me - so yes, I expect the vast majority prefer to read and avoid posting unless they have a specific problem. I would hope that anyone who posted here would get a civil response - although very occasionally I do see slightly off-hand responses. Those are usually dealt with by others though. > And that, IMHO, is how it should be. We are all different and long may we > be so. Tell you're Mum 'Hello. I'm sorry if we bored you, but thank you > for trying.' > > George Parker I am a bit disappointed that Mum found the list too much to cope with. It is very hard to deal with some issues in a way which new users could follow easily. However, if the new user asked, I am sure that the person dealing with the query could go into it in a more "user friendly" manner - I know I am happy to do so. I have been a Linux user for several years, but sometimes things go over my head on the list. I can just skim those posts or, if I really want to know, I can ask. One quick point - if a list is set up for new users, can we please avoid using the term "newbie" or the other variants? I appreciate it is common to use those terms, but they always seem slightly derogatory to me - even though they are not meant in that way I am sure. "New users" is not much longer :) Mark -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html