tinker
Group: Members
Posts: 33
Joined: May 2007 |
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Posted: July 31 2007,14:04 |
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As one of those mentioned above I can only express my frustration and disappointment with the way things were handled.
When the board would not allow me to post after registering, I sent an email to webmaster(at)(DSL domain) [munged to obscure, the address was correct] , it was neither bounced, nor answered. This was on May 26.
On May 28, I sent one to John(at)(DSL domain), indicating that while I showed up as "online", I was not allowed to either post or PM anyone, thus I couldn't even make anyone aware of the problem. I also indicated that this could be very bad for newbies, since they would probably just go away when they couldn't get help. Again, neither bounced nor answered.
On May 30, I searched the net and found a (lafn) address for you Robert and emailed that. It also was neither bounced nor answered.
Next, I added my nick to the wiki page in the forum rules section. That didn't seem to be noticed either, as the list kept growing. I even did some of what the OP here mentioned, looked at registration dates and noticed inconsistencies. ...and waited.
I had been lurking for months and had information that I thought would have helped a couple of regulars that were having a discussion. That was why I finally registered, I even asked in my first email for the webmaster to pass on the information I was trying to post. It was extremely frustrating not to be able to offer help. At that point, I stopped considering DSL a serious distro.
Today, July 31, I received an email informing me that I could visit the forums and "log in fully". Well, that is some cold comfort after 2 months, especially since I have been "logged in" and "welcomed" as my nick, time-after-time during the two month period. Imagine my surprise when I still saw spam posts while I was locked out. Although, I have to add, if you see this then I can also now post.
Robert, you can probably understand the frustration, as you held your polls and considered direction for DSL , for someone who liked DSL, used it, and who was not allowed to post or comment on future direction. I even previously recommended it in other forums for people with older, low ram, equipment and I think at least one of them made it here if the nick is the same as they were using elsewhere.
As an aside, I will also mention that I was considering a couple of items from the DSL store, but this experience cured me of that.
I realise that it isn't easy to run a distro with a couple of people. However, if a distro is not going to be professional about it then the project should be dropped. Before anyone jumps in here with excuses, we are *all* too busy with our lives, thus we have to scale back to what we can actually accomplish, that's the bottom line. Newbies should not be left hanging with no way (that they are likely to think of or try) to ask for help. I think this is especially true in 2007 when many are making, or trying to make, the switch from the Redmond OS. I realise DSL isn't aimed at newbies, but its ease of use does naturally attract them. There isn't any way for me to estimate how many just gave up and went away (very likely with nothing good to say about DSL). I also don't think, this is going to help book sales. Spam in the board is certainly bad, but it can be ignored and deleted, snubbed clients are not as easy to placate. Personally, I have been able to obtain the answers I needed to run DSL from the wiki, the forum archives, what I read while lurking, and reading through Robert's scripts but I can see that many people struggle with the differences in DSL, even if they have GNU/Linux experience.
I see this somewhat has the tone of a rant, perhaps I can be forgiven a small rant, given the circumstances. As with all things in life, this can be an opportunity for learning and growth.
tinker
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