Suggested Tips for Taming the Extreme Side of the Linux Community
Sometimes, I feel that Linux is so very close to making it on the desktop. Sometimes that I feel that there are only few barriers to populating the world with a massive amount of cheap, secure computers running Linux and other open source software. Though, the few barriers that are left are considerably challenging. The barrier that will be discussed in this post, as obvious from the title, is the side of the Linux community that is cold and unfriendly to new Linux users.
It is absolutely necessary to tone this side of the Linux community down. Users new to Linux feel like that they are in an alien world in which it is dangerous to navigate, and fearing getting flamed from angry Linux users is simply just going to drive them back towards Windows. How can the angry Linux users be soothed?
The traditional method is to lightly discourage such angry behavior, and that is close to my solution. What I am planning is nearly waging war against the extreme side of the Linux community and use anti-spam methods, such as IP banning and filtering, to handle angry users of forums, IRC channels, and other online places where Linux newbies seek help. There are already a few places that do this, but the problem is that there are only a few places that apply this type of policy regarding hostile Linux users.
Critics of GNU/Linux often state that the Linux community (including the communities of distros, desktop environments, various applications etc.) can’t seem to pull themselves into a single entity. Personally, I think that it is time that the friendly majority of the Linux community should disprove these critics and band together to silence the extreme side of the Linux community.
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