Colin, thank you for your 'deconstruction'. It's given me food for
thought. I'll spare the list a point-by-point response, and limit
myself to a technical justification.
According to Colin McCormack:
> And in your preferred mode, there's a sensitivity requirement. Some
> who might have contributed leave rather than be continually told
> that their habitual, comfortable, communications style is verbally
> abusive.
Consider the time-honored IETF mantra, which I may be slightly
misquoting: "Be strict in what you send; be generous in what you
accept." Communications effectiveness is maximized when each message
has a maximal chance of being accepted. In the context of a
variegated social group, that maximized chance comes from maximizing
both politeness *and* thick skin.
(In this context, I'm using 'politeness' to mean 'demonstrated respect
for the social norms of others'.)
A real-world example: I was recently in Singapore for the Singapore
Linux Conference. A quirk of Singaporean culture is that pointing
one's finger is considered an obscene gesture, and pointing directly
at a person is particularly offensive. In most of the world, pointing
at objects is normal, and pointing at people is usually OK.
Singaporeans are aware that their feelings about pointing are not
universal, so they are undoubtedly accustomed to foreigners pointing
without thinking. And it could be argued that it's their
responsibility to just *cope*.
But, as a practical matter, they can't help but be offended, or at
least _distracted_, when someone points, especially at them.
Therefore, as a visiting speaker, I will be more _effective_ when
addressing a Singaporean audience if I remember not to point. This
need have nothing to do with my desire not to offend them (though in
fact I do want to avoid giviing offense).
So it makes sense, IMO, to recognize that a person's value to a
project can be compromised by a style that is insulting to many
of the other members of the project. No absolute standards here,
just an acknnowledgement of human nature.
--
Chip Salzenberg - a.k.a. - <chip@valinux.com>
"I wanted to play hopscotch with the impenetrable mystery of existence,
but he stepped in a wormhole and had to go in early." // MST3K
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