[WFS-India] Suggestion for re-modelling of the mailing list rules

[Indranil Das Gupta]

[LONG_POST] [HAZ MAT ALERT]

Friends,

I've been lurking around, quietly watching the debate around the m/l.
WFS - India is a nice effort and I mean that without any hint of
patronizing. I should add for people who do not know me, that I'm a
man. Hopefully, I trust you all not to hold that against me. :-)

What has attracted me enough to sign-up on the m/l is the way Satabdi,
Aruna and others who have been open, helpful and welcoming in their
attitude in attempting to create a virtual space where women feel free
to ask questions, interact, learn and may be even contribute back if
they wish so.

However, the mailing list rules - http://www.wfs-india.org/node/25,
have certainly left me feeling rankled. The language and the links
pointed to are IMHO quite abrasive and newbie-unfriendly. They are an
almost verbatim copy-paste of Glug-Cal mailing list rules (that fact
is mentioned quite clearly)

>From what I understand, the target segment of the effort is not only
to attract women technologists (budding or otherwise), rather any
woman who uses some form of technology / ICT in everyday and wishes to
participate in the Commons culture.

The first three links right after the first paragraph of the m/l rules
are hardcore geeky documents, some of which are of questionable merit
given this group's focus. I will address that in a bit, however,
asking a new comer to chew them and essentially digest and adhere to
them is IMHO akin to asking a would-be mountaineering enthusiast to
scale the north face of Mt Everest, even before she has rappelled down
a climbing wall.

Coming to the question of merit of these links, women, especially in
India and elsewhere are quite often snubbed as not being smart enough
(compared to their male counterparts). So, while the link - "How To
Ask Questions The Smart Way" may have a lot of technically valid
points, do we really need to point AS-IS to a document that says:

a) "What we are, unapologetically, is hostile to people who seem to be
unwilling to think or to do their own homework before asking
questions. [...] We call people like this 'losers'"

b) "If you find this attitude obnoxious, condescending, or arrogant,
check your assumptions."

c) "It's OK to be ignorant; it's not OK to play stupid."

d) "Beware of asking the wrong question. [..] J. Random Hacker is
quite likely to reply with a uselessly literal answer while thinking
'Stupid question...'"

I could go on, but what is the point in delving more into this
testosterone-driven muck no matter how technically valid it may seem
to be!

Then of course, comes the list of "DO NOT"s that take over the rest of
the document. Sounds awful like a lot of quasi-legal bureaucrat-ese -
forbidding and scary, rather than the message of warm welcome that
this group wishes to portray.

People can be taught/shown how to fish, even without giving them an
'pre-paid' slap on their wrist in assumption of their potential
'wrong-doing'.

Remember the funny line from 'The Pirates of the Caribbean" - 'And
thirdly, the code is more what you'd call "guidelines" than actual
rules.'? :-P

If the folks here feel there is any merit in my post, I'll share the
'patch' which I'm drafting. I've applied old ILUG-D rule on myself :D

DISCLAIMER: I often do not see eye-to-eye with A. Mani's dogma, so my
non-response to Ms. Mani's posts may not be construed as being in
agreement or having nothing to say.

cheers
-idg

-- 
Indranil Das Gupta

Phone : +91-98300-20971
Blog    : http://indradg.randomink.org/blog
IRC      : indradg on irc://irc.freenode.net
Twitter : indradg

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Please exchange editable Office documents only in ODF Format. No other
format is acceptable. Support Open Standards.

For a free editor supporting ODF, please visit LibreOffice -
http://www.documentfoundation.org