Re: [9front] Questions about community dynamics

[ieliedonge@wilsonb.com]

Jacob Moody <moody@posixcafe.org> wrote:
> On 9/23/23 17:53, ieliedonge@wilsonb.com wrote:
> > How do things generally get decided around here: e.g. patches merged, meetings
> > planned, etc?
> > 
> > I'm mostly just trying to get a feel for the de facto social dynamics here.
> > After lurking on the mailing list for a while, there are obviously a lot of
> > highly intelligent, curious, and thoughtful people. At the same time, I also
> > see some of loud voices that drown out the former.
> > 
> > Is there any kind of facilitation that goes on in the background?
> 
> Can you expand on what you mean by this?

Sure. Mainly, I am just aware that a mailing list potentially captures only a
tiny slice of a community's communications. I am wondering about the holistic
dynamics here, both explicit and implicit.

For example, some communities operate in a somewhat laissez faire manner,
letting whatever happens happens. Other communities have explicit moderation.
Others still have strong enough rapport that people just naturally get led into
cooperative, helpful communication over time.

An element of the question is me wondering what 9front's values are. I see a
problem with the habits of some on this mailing list but maybe that's just my
uncalibrated view as an outsider.

It's probably obvious that I'm also thinking about the recent discussion around
a sed patch. As an onlooker, I see a few people giving a thumbs up and one
loud, aggressive voice simply yelling that it's a worthless patch, without
articulating anything helpful. As someone who'd like to eventually contribute,
that kind of thing is pretty discouraging.

So my meaning of "facilitation" here is asking both whether such
a sentiment is part of the 9front community and if so whether there is any kind
of mechanism to make things more welcoming.

> 
> > 
> > Personally, I don't have the time or energy to deal with highly combatant
> > collaborators and am pretty sure I'm not alone in that sentiment. We get enough
> > of that kind of thing at work! :P
> > 
> > I really like playing around with Plan 9 and would be sad if the community
> > really is as unwelcoming as has felt so far on the mailing list. The ML is
> > obviously a particular cross-section, so maybe I'm just misreading the room?
> > 
> > Anyway, happy hacking!