[wlug_org] First draft of WellyLUG rules and guidelines

[Jamie Baddeley]

Guidelines do not equal rules. The actual rules that were stated in the
proposal (all two of them) are either laid down by others that we must
abide by, or bleeding obvious.

If you had turned up at the last meeting (I believe you were threatening
to leave the LUG at the time), you would have noted an overwhelming
majority voting in favour of the creation of some guidelines. It is my
view that this was directly in response to a thread that began '...Well
due to one thing and another I no longer have Linux installed...'

I am like you, I tend to favour simplicity as well. These are not
complex guidelines, and I think you are being overly dramatic and are
exaggerating somewhat. I don't think we are getting bogged down in
administrivia. What we are getting bogged down in what appears to be a
repeated refusal to accept (or even consider) other points of view as
valid. People try to something that is progressive, and you object to
that with no alternative. That creates a situation that is very
difficult to resolve. The guidelines are trying to minimise the very
need for the administrivia that you abhor.

I, like you, and like virtually all of us on this org list, in February
fought for a loose, dynamic LUG that did not need a formal structure.
Long may it be that way.

A linux user group is a microcosm of life. There are all sorts in it.
Get used to it. Maybe this time you should turn up to a meeting to
actually discuss these things in person. I like to think we'd make a lot
more progress, and probably a lot less noise. 


jamie

p.s Please point out to me to the vocal minority with the political
agenda everywhere they go. I can't see them.

On Thu, 2004-05-06 at 14:37, Jamie Dobbs wrote:
> > Sam, This is certainly to the point mate, but frankly I'm afraid we may
> > as well not bother with something this brief that provides no
> > background.
> 
> Anyone who cannot abide by a simple set of guidelines should perhaps climb
> back under whatever rock it was that they crawled out from under in the
> first place. Filling the LUG with a host of rules/guidelines (or whatever
> you want to call them) serves no purpose other than to make those people
> who ensure that such rules are followed feel important.
> 
> I for one favor a simple, concise set of rules or if that is not possible
> then let there be no rules at all. The creation of complex
> rules/guidelines is simply so that those that break them can be chastised
> by those who deem themselves to be the 'keepers of the rules'.
> 
> I personally see this as yet another move towards the LUG becoming more
> and more bogged down in administrivia and not dealing with what it does
> best - allowing people to get together and share ideas and knowledge.
> 
> If the LUG wants rules then so be it, I personally will not be too keen if
> such rules become excessive and try to tell me how I have to deal with
> people and situations (as appears to be the case at the moment). In the
> words of Number 6: "I am not a number, I am a free man!"
> 
> I still maintain that there should be LUG for people who have no care for
> the politics or Linux/Windows/MacOS or whatever and just want to share
> experiences/ideas and knowledge. If WellyLUG is not the place for this
> then perhaps I will need to look for somewhere where the vocal minority do
> not carry a political agenda with them everywhere that they go.
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