OT: Troll definition (was RE: Mission Statement)

[Doug Loss <dloss@csrlink.net>]

On Tue, 3 Aug 1999 18:26:37 -0500, "Ian Bicking" <bickiia@earlham.edu> wrote:
>
>> > (mostly Slashdot trollers and journalists with a desire to
>> > spread FUD)
>> 
>> Wow! some words new to me :)
>
> This is often caused by trolls, which are 
> people who say inflamitory things that cause long and pointless 
> debate over a question that was never really sincere in the first 
> place, a question usually posed by someone who won't even bother 
> to read the followup.  I don't know why they decided to call these 
> people trolls, but they are infectious in Internet culture.

It comes from fishing, where trolling is dragging a baited line behind a boat, 
hoping for a fish to strike it.  The analogy is fairly obvious, I think.

Doug Loss            Always acknowledge a fault.  This will throw
dloss@csrlink.net    those in authority off their guard and give
(570) 326-3987       you the opportunity to commit more.
                        Mark Twain