Does CLUG have many beginners? (was Re: [clug] Flirting Techniiques For Men)

[Daniel Pittman]

Alex Satrapa <alexsatrapa at mac.com> writes:
> On 23/04/2009, at 09:50 , Rod Peters wrote:
>
>> Some of the discussion in this thread advocates a need to have a
>> point of contact for Linux beginners.  Agreed, but I doubt that CLUG
>> has many beginners.
>
> You'd prefer to send Linux "beginners" off to talk to each other,
> rather than have access to people who can answer their questions
> correctly the first time?

On which topic, let me note that one of the reasons I do spend my time
on a large number of LUG lists is explicitly to help beginners.

Generally speaking, in fact, I find that to be the majority of what they
are good for, as most of the interesting high level technical discussion
happens in separate SIG or application specific mailing lists.

>> FWIW, our experience within PCUG Linux SIG is that a large
>> proportion, perhaps the majority, of beginners don't persist with
>> Linux.  Difficult to say why, in the absence of much feedback, but I
>> suggest many aspects, often boiling down to "comfort zone".
>
> My experience by proxy has been that many people who try asking for
> help get brushed off, and many Linux "beginners" can't stand the
> circlejerk that most gatherings of Linux fanatics turns into.

I think, Alex, that you drift away from making a useful point into
personal attack here, which is generally inadvisable.

In any case, I agree that it is undesirable to exclude, explicitly or
implicitly, people seeking help from a LUG.

Regards,
        Daniel