[Mailman-Developers] TMDA in front of mailman-users with no check against thesubscriber list

[Chuq Von Rospach]

On 7/31/02 2:10 PM, "Fil" <fil@rezo.net> wrote:

> @ J C Lawrence <claw@kanga.nu> :
>>   mailman-users with a confirm request text that explicitly asks, HAVE
>>   YOU CHECKED THE FAQ AT <URL>?
> 
> No! Be very very friendly to anyone coming to you. You can bite afterwards,
> but only if they have harrassed you.

Even simpler. 

This is a classic example of open-source-helper-burnout. Yes, the same
questions show up over and ove.r yes, they're in the FAQ.

When you start getting frustrated at this, remember that you are not the
only person on the list willing and able to answer questions. So don't yell
at the poor person asking the question. Shut up and stop worrying about it.
Someone else will pick up the ball and take a shift in helping the newbies
get what they need. Think of it as tag-team tech support. Answer what you
feel like naswering, don't answer what bothers you, and others will do the
same. And funny enough, if you do, it all works out and nobody gets yelled
at. Even better, you never get so stressed out you say the hell with it
forever. 

Me, I used to think *I* had to answer stuff. I found out (the hard way) that
if I didn't, magically the world didn't fall apart. In reality, it wasn't ME
that was the key there, but US. Except, of course, to my ego...

Once I realized that, I found stuff got a lot less stressful, and enjoyable.
And stuff still happened. Magic.




-- 
Chuq Von Rospach, Architech
chuqui@plaidworks.com -- http://www.chuqui.com/

Someday, we'll look back on this, laugh
nervously and change the subject.