LWN.net Logo

Answers from postions of typical uber-geek

Answers from postions of typical uber-geek

Posted Oct 4, 2007 13:43 UTC (Thu) by lysse (guest, #3190)
In reply to: Answers from postions of typical uber-geek by khim
Parent article: Yet another male perspective on women in free software

> I'm not uber-geek, I just play devil's advocate

...you mean you troll...?


(Log in to post comments)

Answers from postions of typical uber-geek

Posted Oct 4, 2007 16:25 UTC (Thu) by amikins (guest, #451) [Link]

To be fair, it looks to me more like this individual isn't clear on the purpose of playing devil's advocate.

Devil's advocate is an attempt to advance understanding of a problem by presenting alternate points, as well-reasoned as possible. If the points aren't sufficiently well framed as to be able to usefully further discussion, then the goal isn't served.

Care must be taken when attempting to take on the devil's advocate role; if you aren't precise in how you present these views, you do in fact come across as a troll.

Answers from postions of typical uber-geek

Posted Oct 20, 2007 1:01 UTC (Sat) by einhverfr (guest, #44407) [Link]

I actually thought the points were well demonstrated.  Not strictly devils advocate, more
along the lines of what one might expect from, say, Jonathan Swift.

I think the main issue however, is that it really does come down to community management.
Some  people "get it" and some don't.

Copyright © 2013, Eklektix, Inc.
Comments and public postings are copyrighted by their creators.
Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds