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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 16th, 2023

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  • There are two keys to success for an internet community:

    • limit the conversation to a circumscribed subject
    • have decent moderation

    This has not changed since the 90s. It’s the reason that any community devoted to “world news” or “politics”, whether it be here or on the R-site or anywhere else, is destined be a train wreck whereas one on “gardening” or “classic BMWs” or whatever will generally be pleasant.

    Fair-minded moderation is what turns a cesspool into a merely unpleasant hangout, or a decent community into a great one.

    IMO the gold standard for a successful community is clearly Hacker News, which (logically) combines a well-defined purpose with top-notch moderation. Rather than just deleting comments and handing out bans, the moderator there intervenes in discussions to push them back on course, often in a plaintive manner that appeals to people’s good sides. The positive results of this approach were even the subject of a feature article in the New Yorker.

    This is a not a technical problem as much as a human one. Restrict the bounds of conversation, then take a smart approach to moderation. Success will follow.





  • Follow some basic rules so as to avoid making the mess.

    Only install standard packages from distro’s repository and Python’s pseudo-official PIP. For both, keep a text file with the installed package names. No compiling from source EVER. Too much hassle to maintain.

    Back up config files that I changed. Not all of them.

    Keep a text file to record what I did, with exact commands etc, whenever I need to go off-road. Much experience taught me that this is a chore that is very much worth the effort.

    But still, the problem you point to is real. It’s the reason for immutable distros. The idea of which I find quite tempting.