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On 2006-09-24, Roy Schestowitz spake thusly:
> __/ [ Rick ] on Sunday 24 September 2006 18:53 \__
>
>> On Sun, 24 Sep 2006 19:41:44 +0200, Roy Culley wrote:
>>
>>> begin risky.vbs
>>> <pan.2006.09.24.17.24.57.433699@xxxxxxxxxx>, Rick <none@xxxxxxxxxx>
>>> writes:
>>>> On Sun, 24 Sep 2006 17:41:50 +0200, Hadron Quark wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> You are a prove liar, a plagiariser and a proven copyright abuser. Who
>>>>> would believe anything you say?
>>>>
>>>> You are a proved liar. Who would believe anything you say?
>>>
>>> Its been a long time since I've said this so here goes once again. I know
>>> of no wintroll in COLA who doesn't lie. Not one. Quark boy is just one of
>>> the latest.
With respect, the rest isn't unsnippable.
------------------------8<---------------------------
> Rick,
Roy Schestowitz spake thusly:
> To quote a fragment of an E-mail I sent to Ed this afternoon:
>
> "I joined the group in 2005 and I quickly learned that (at least most of
> the) trolls will never let you have the last word. When you reply, you
> fuel them.
Suprisingly, it isn't automatically understood (at least it wasn't for me)
that it is *always* pointless to argue if you are trying to win the argument
for winnings sake. Having the last word is to some, rewarding, but it's a
waste of energy. What makes the Monty Python sketch, "the argument clinic"
so funny is that it recongnises this and makes fun of it.
> Yet another anti-Linux post will be farted out from their
> mouths. Remember: if no-one speaks to them, then lurkers (1300+
> subscribers in Google alone, post archives/mirrors and NG servers aside)
> will realise that the trolls are unpopular, i.e. not credible. Moreover,
> the trolls will lose interest as they enjoy stirring things up.
aye, there's the rub. That group is what I call the "silent reader".
The troll's popularity won't/dosen't matter to them unless they read
their posts for pure entertainment value. Popularity isn't really
important except for one thing:
To one degree or another, people read their posts.
That is really the bottom line and replying or not won't make any
difference. The posts are there in all their glory for everyone
to read or stumble across. For that matter so are ours. It's one
of the reasons I sign my usenet messages.
> Nothing angers the trolls more than being ignored.
No, I would say, nothing would anger that kind of poster more
than having their own posts turned into something constructive.
This is really the point. It's better to use the trolls posts,
when possible, to advocate Linux by treating the posts as
legitimate. This has two effects:
1) it turns innapropriate/disruptive/negative posts into constructive
posts that provide information about Linux to the silent readers
and
2) It uses their own posts to archive the above into usenet
databases.
I'm not advocating perpetuating endless and pointless threads that
can't be used to the communities benefit. I'm just pointing out
what I consider to be a much better approach to the situation. I
don't think it's very hard to do a mental assessment of which posters
this would be most successful with.
It's still fun to mess with them, from time to time, I'll admit ;-)
Regards,
Mathew
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--
"Always do the right thing: It will delight / Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanies
some and astound the rest" - Mark Twain / Psychotronic protection, low prices
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