Re: [pygame] #pygame on irc.freenode.net

[Nick Moffitt <nick@xxxxxxxx>]

I find it interesting that it's the people who don't actually make use
of the #pygame channel who are so eager to evict those who do.

I'll tell you folks now: piman is not an easy guy to get along with, but
he does genuinely discuss pygame.  We've taken to dealing with his
attitude by being more playfully absurd around him, and that seems to
work well enough.  

What *doesn't* happen is people coming in to discuss pygame, and some
sort of resident cabal of troublemakers chasing them away with, oh, I
dunno, comments about their mothers or something.  That isn't what's
happening.  

Instead what sparked this mess off was the following exchange:

		*** TV-LAND FLASHBACK RIPPLE EFFECT ***

Pymike entered during a long string of people entering and asking about
their inability to reach http://pygame.org, and feeling that he wasn't
being heard decided to scream.

 <pymike> DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT'S UP WITH PYGAME.ORG?
 <Spads> Not a soul.
 <_raz_> do not shout, stupid
 <Spads> the mysteries of pygame.org are unknowable

Despite being irritated, _raz_ ventured forth to be helpful.

 <_raz_> the seul.org servers are down, so nothing's up with pygame.org
 <_raz_> damnit

At this point, pymike explained his overwhelming sense of entitlement.

 <pymike> When I get on an irc channel for pygame I like to get
	 questions answered
 <pymike> sheesh
 <Spads> pymike: and when I enter a room full of hot ladies, I like to
	 get sexed up by all of them at once
 <Spads> pymike: but more often than not they're too busy with one
	 another to notice me
  * Spads cries in the corner

Enter pymike's opinions on the nature of the "official" channel for
pygame.

 <pymike> Is this not the official irc channel for pygame?
 <Spads> what sort of criteria for "official" are you hoping for?
 <_raz_> I did not sign a fucking contract to answer your questions,
	 neither did anyone else
 <Spads> if you mean "Do the board of directors for the Pygame
	 corporation found this channel to answer questions from the lay
	 public in order to increase shareholder value" then no
 <_raz_> kisses to you Spads :)

And now pymake pleads that he isn't really asking for much, really, and
we should not consider it a burden to drop everything and service him.

 <pymike> I just came in and asked a simple question
 <Spads> if you mean "Is there an officer from the People's Sixth
	 International Pygame here to ensure strict compliance to party
	 dogma" then yes
 <pymike> I thought I could get an answer without getting a lot of bull
 <pymike> I'll just email phil hassey or something

Exeunt, chased by deserved ridicule.

 -!- pymike [n=chatzill@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] has left #pygame []
 <_raz_> and impatiently requested an answer instead of waiting
 <Spads> sweet
 <Spads> we need fewer of his kind in here
 <Spads> let's do that more often
 <_raz_> boy, there I'm telling him, seul.org's down and he even ignores
	 the asnwer
 <_raz_> what the fuck...
 <Spads> that's okay
 <Spads> phil hassey will write him a carefully-caligraphed letter on
	 perfumed letter stock explaining the status of the pygame.org
	 web site and its reasons for being
 <Spads> all stamped in wax and sealed with a kiss
 <Spads> phil hassey lipstick marks next to the signature
 <Spads> all dotting all the 'i's and 'j's with hearts...

Then in came yet another user asking the same question as everybody
else, so _raz_ decided to take more definite action.

 -!- surgy [n=surgy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] has joined #pygame
 -!- surgy is surgy
 <surgy> is the website down
 -!- _raz_ changed the topic of #pygame to: Don't ask to ask, just
	ask | yes, pygame.org's down due to some problems of the hoster

Once this particular storm passed, pymike returned to let us know, and
_raz_ took care of things.

 -!- pymike [n=chatzill@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] has joined #pygame
 -!- pymike is New Now Know How
 <pymike> pygame.org is back
 -!- _raz_ changed the topic of #pygame to: Don't ask to ask, just ask

And that there is about all there is to this ridiculous tale.  When
you're rude, expect to be met with rudeness.  That's all there is to
learn from this pointless episode, and we can all stop pontificating
about how we need to restrict other people's behavior as some sort of
draconian PR policy.

-- 
Information gladly given, but safety requires           Nick Moffitt
avoiding unnecessary conversation.                     nick@xxxxxxxx