User talk:Eric B. and Rakim
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Again, welcome! - UtherSRG 14:18, 14 May 2004 (UTC)
Eric B and Rakim:
I saw your note on the mailing list, and I'm a little saddened that some of your first experiences on Wikipedia were discouraging and less than friendly. All of us here, I believe, share the vision of creating a compendium of human knowledge; we just have diferent persectives on how exactly this should be done. Much of the time this settles itself out in friendly debate, but sometimes people aren't so courteous. RickK spends a good deal of time fighting legitimate vandals; it's an thankless task, and he doesn't necessarily give elaborate justification for all of his actions.
One of the principles which a lot of of Wikipedians try to apply is AssumeGoodFaith. Generally people don't mean to be malicious, but they can come across that way sometimes. That's always a useful lens through which to exmine other people's actions, at least in my experience.
I know from firsthand experience that it can be quite a shock to see your work listed for possible deletion; however, keep in mind that it only takes one person to list a page on VfD, and, once it's listed there, it's debated by the community (or rather, whatever portion of the community chooses to comment. It looks like some of your work will indeed be kept; it takes a strong majority to delete on VfD for the page to actually be deleted, and there is usually at least a one week discussion period.
You're also right that Wikipedia isn't necessarily very welcoming of newbies, often because some veteran Wikipedians have become impatient with dealing with the common mistakes that new users make (they forget to remember to AssumeGoodFaith), instead of gently pointing them out and helping folks learn.
Another place you might want to ask questions (if you have them) is on the Wikipedia IRC Channels; there's almost always a veteran user or five there who can give you tips about how to deal with a confusing or frustrating situation. You can always, of course, post to the Wikipedia:Village Pump, although that may take an hour or two to get a meaningful response. Don't hesitate to ask questions. :)
I hope you decide stay; it seems like you have a lot of knowledge which you could offer the project in a field that it seems we're a bit weak on. -- Seth Ilys 02:36, 20 May 2004 (UTC)
I'm with Seth on this one. Unfortunately, your first encounter was with someone who ought to have his virtual butt kicked into a pixel pit. You will meet some truly amazing people here; you will, it also being real life, meet some total jerks. Persevere, ask for help, remember your friends, and if worst comes to worst, ask Angela for help. She is our resident goddess, if there is anyone you can go to and get a square deal, it's her. (Mind you, if you're being a toad, don't expect any sympathy either <grin>) BTW, I'm going to have to deal with Linux when I move up to OSX - I hope you can put together a few general articles on what it is and how it works. (Check the Linux articles we've got - my bet is you can improve them big-time!) Denni 05:06, 2004 May 20 (UTC)