Technical support on the list [was Re: rogers rocket stick sierra 330U]

[Mathieu Trudel-Lapierre]

On Thu, Sep 13, 2012 at 6:47 PM, Kip Warner <kip at thevertigo.com> wrote:
[...]
> Imagine that a new non-Ubuntu person is living in Canada and just got
> excited about Ubuntu. They Googled around and discovered there's this
> thing called "Ubuntu Canada". Cool! They have a mailing list too.
> Great!! So, they join up (subscribe), and start reading prior posts to
> get a feel for the state of Ubuntu in Canada.
>
> What do they find? Ubuntu never works. The list is mostly silent but
> then suddenly erupts into a flood of "How do I get my blah working with
> blah on my blah, blah..." followed by a bunch of "Try this try that." In
> short they find: *A whole lot of fail.*

No, what they find is that *when* something doesn't work, they can ask
and get an answer pretty quickly, and have a reasonable chance to get
things working. I still haven't seen a response about the Sierra 330U,
but that doesn't mean it didn't work.

> If we really want to build community and spread Ubuntu, please let's
> not fool ourselves into thinking random tech support on a mailing list
> is the answer. Let's actually do something real. Get away from your
> screens, host an Ubuntu hour or similar event in a public place. Invite
> people. Be fun and friendly. And, if you see someone on the list asking
> for help, give them real advice that helps everyone: send them to an
> official Ubuntu support channel. Better still, find someone locally near
> them to lend a hand in person, the Ubuntu way.

Let's not fool ourselves and think tech support on a mailing list
isn't the answer. Some people would much rather use a local mailing
list than AskUbuntu or calling in to Canonical to get support. Some
other support channels are even more daunting to new users or people
who are trying Ubuntu but don't necessarily know much about computers.
Would you send just about anyone to #ubuntu on IRC for support? IRC
tends to be scary to a lot of people.

Let's not fool ourselves and think that everyone who touches Ubuntu
suddenly wants to go to activities organized by a group of Linux
users. I think it's unfortunate, but some people just don't care about
this and simply want to use their computer. Then there are those who
live too far to get to whatever might be organized (let's keep in mind
this is Canada...) or are simply too shy to go to user group meetings.

Let's not fool ourselves and think there aren't very capable people on
this mailing list who can give clear, effective answers to technical
problems. If you disagreed with any of the advice that was written in
the thread, please make sure you clearly respond to the sender to tell
them what you think was wrong, of if there is an easier way to do
something. It's always appreciated.

I'm not saying don't host events. They're a great way to get to know
better the people you communicate with on a mailing list, or to show
your gratitude to someone who may have helped you out.

I'm just saying that technical support on a mailing list is very
effective, and actually accomplishes something.

If you feel the list is mostly silent and doesn't show that the Ubuntu
Canada LoCo is active, then by all means, please write on the list
more often, share your ideas, organize more events...

Regards,

Mathieu Trudel-Lapierre <mathieu-tl at ubuntu.com>
Freenode: cyphermox, Jabber: mathieu.tl at gmail.com
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