Google Groups + this list

[Steven D'Aprano]

Ned Batchelder wrote:

> 1) Don't fault newcomers for using Google Groups.  Politely suggest
> alternatives, but only if you are also helping them, or if they have
> already gotten help.

+1

The *primary purpose* of this list is to help people with Python, not to
enforce some particular part of netiquette to the exclusion of all else.
The part that often gets forgotten is the part about avoiding rudeness and
flame wars, and encouraging a friendly, helpful, inclusive environment.
Netiquette helps with communication, but it is the communication which is
important, not the netiquette itself.


> 2) Be careful how you rail against Google Groups.  When you call its
> results "crap" (for example), it can sound like an insult to the poster.
> You mean to refer to Google Groups, but remember you are also
> referring to the poster's words.

+1

While it actually isn't true that you catch more flies with honey than with
vinegar, we don't actually want to catch flies. We want to communicate
with, and educate, human beings.


> 3) Don't let's get into protracted internal debates about Google Groups.
> It is for the moment at least, an unavoidable part of this list.

+1

"At the head of all understanding is realizing what is and what cannot be,
and the consoling of what is not in our power to change."
-- Solomon ibn Gabirol


Thank you Ned for saying all this.


-- 
Steven