[plug] Re: Installation discussion list, Jan 2005

[James Devenish]

In message <200501300136.04767.bob at fots.org.au>
on Sun, Jan 30, 2005 at 01:36:04AM +0800, bob wrote:
> > There was recently a discussion on another local lists where people
> > expressed feelings of personal offence that their questions had gone
> > unanswered.
> What about having someone being given the task of at least
> acknowledging the post.

Ideas, ideas. What I don't get is: if you already have your eye out for
"newbies" and think you have a solution that will work for everyone, why
haven't you been doing it already? Why will everyone else be able to
sustain what you haven't? (This is not a personal complaint: I just tend
to be sceptical about some ideas being sustained in the future when they
haven't kept in fruition in the past.)

A similar point to yours was made at the AGM: could there be someone
going around introducing themselves to newcomers at workshops? I'm
suspecting that some sort of compromise will have to be made: most
people keep themselves occupied with computers and conversations. Short
of hiring someone to keep their hands away from the computers and out of
the conversations, you may have to settle for name badges, signs, or a
"start here" area to which people will glance periodically. (But I
wouldn't really know: I don't go to the workshops.)