From: Robert L Cochran <cochranb_at_speakeasy.net>
Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2008 20:42:41 -0500

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Paul Louden wrote:
> Dj Paddy: I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but you're top posting,
> and quoting the entire contents of past messages. As per the list
> guidelines, please attempt to only quote the portion of the message you
> need quoted, and place the quotes contextually rather than after your
> message.
>
> I guess this serves as a reminder to the rest of the list too, as
> several posters in this thread have been doing this (Jason Boston, Dj
> Paddy, Dominik Wenger). If you aren't sure how to configure your client
> to comply with the list etiquette, please start another thread asking
> for help, and we'll do what we can.
>

I'd like to speak to this.

I've been reading the various discussion threads for several weeks now
and I have to express my utter amazement at the ingenuity and skill of
the visually impaired list members in working with both Rockbox and
their various devices. I've also come to appreciate even more the
challenges that many of the list members face.

So, my puzzlement at this kind of posting, where someone chooses to
interrupt a very productive stream of useful posts in how to get speech
to work on some devices, is all the greater. I'm a little shocked by it,
in fact.

I belong to several mailing lists and I can tell you that most of the
posters on the Rockbox list seem to say very little in each post
compared to those on other lists. Most of the posters here are amazingly
polite and respectful people. They don't get wandery, they stay on
topic, they are often too brief, it would seem to me, in discussing
issues with their devices and the firmware. The posters on this forum
are by and large the most polite that I've seen in any of the 7 or so
other lists that I belong to.

I find it difficult to believe, really, that someone would step in and
make this kind of post. Considering the progress the list is making in
discussing and resolving real technical issues, this one post seems like
a Niagara Falls of cold water on posters who don't deserve it. I
especially would not fuss with a visually impaired person about whether
he or she top posts or not.

Some policies are silly. This is one such. Change your policy and focus
on the very important issues -- issues of working with your devices.

I'm not visually impaired like many of the Rockbox list members are.
However, I work closely with visually impaired people. As a matter of
fact, one of my former managers is very low-vision. The person who sits
across from me in the office is blind. I'm a software engineer, and I've
led evaluations of software products that included looking at their
compatibility with JAWS.

I hope you people will be kinder and gentler with each other. Until I
saw this one posting, it was a fascinating, productive, learning
experience in how different devices work. I hope you people go back to
business as usual. Please.

Sincerely

Bob Cochran

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Received on 2008-01-21