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Home > Archive > Debian Developers > July 2005 > interacting with the press
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interacting with the press
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| Anand Kumria 2005-07-12, 5:57 pm |
| Hi Martin,
I just read this article[1] in the SMH. I think there are a few points that
you should keep when talking to the press in future:
- don't "slag" them off / don't complain aobut the press
- Just talk about Debian, unless explicitly asked for comments
on other things (i.e. Ubuntu).
In particular, it is obvious to me that you have not taken into account
the size or audience of the paper. It is (probably) the most widely read
paper in Australia and most of your comments have just given people a
negative impression of Debian.
Perhaps, with the funds being held for us by SPI, it would be useful to
arrange for you to have a 'refresher' course in dealing with the media.
Or, should you find the demands on your time too pressing, why not use
this opportunity to step-aside as the Debian press contact.
Thanks,
Anand
[1]: <URL: http://smh.com.au/news/breaking/deb...0934228145.html>
--
`When any government, or any church for that matter, undertakes to say to
its subjects, "This you may not read, this you must not see, this you are
forbidden to know," the end result is tyranny and oppression no matter how
holy the motives' -- Robert A Heinlein, "If this goes on --"
| |
| Thomas Bushnell BSG 2005-07-12, 8:52 pm |
| Anand Kumria <wildfire@progsoc.uts.edu.au> writes:
> I just read this article[1] in the SMH. I think there are a few points that
> you should keep when talking to the press in future:
>
> - don't "slag" them off / don't complain aobut the press
>
> - Just talk about Debian, unless explicitly asked for comments
> on other things (i.e. Ubuntu).
Which of his comments is supposed to be giving a negative impression?
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| |
| Steve Greenland 2005-07-12, 8:52 pm |
| On 12-Jul-05, 17:40 (CDT), Anand Kumria <wildfire@progsoc.uts.edu.au> wrote:
> Hi Martin,
>[deleted]
Hi Anand,
I just read your post to debian-devel, and here is something that you
should keep in mind when criticizing volunteers who spend a lot of their
personal time doing a thankless job:
- Don't slag them off in public. A personal e-mail does
just as much good, as is a lot easier for the individual to
swallow than public abuse.
In particular, it is obvious to me that you have not taken into account
the size of audience of debian-devel. It is a widely read technical
list, not a place for you to trash other people's work. Your comments
have just given people a negative impression of Anand Kumria.
Perhaps, with your own funds and time, it would be useful for you to
take a course in dealing effectively with other people.
[last paragraph of parallel construction censored to due to inability to
avoid foul language.]
Regards,
Steve
PS For those of you who haven't read the article, the "slagging of the press"
is this:
Asked about recent news reports sourced from his blog, Mr Schulze said
there was nothing wrong in principle with using blogs as a source.
"Sensationalist stories, however, always have the problem that they're
often more sensationalist than useful or true," he said.
Hardly out of line, IMO.
--
Steve Greenland
The irony is that Bill Gates claims to be making a stable operating
system and Linus Torvalds claims to be trying to take over the
world. -- seen on the net
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| |
| Nigel Jones 2005-07-12, 8:52 pm |
| On 13/07/05, Anand Kumria <wildfire@progsoc.uts.edu.au> wrote:
> Hi Martin,
>=20
> I just read this article[1] in the SMH. I think there are a few points t=
hat
> you should keep when talking to the press in future:
>=20
> - don't "slag" them off / don't complain aobut the press
I don't see how his comment was slagging them off. If you want
slagging off, look on nzherald.co.nz and look at some of the
interviews with "Winston Peters".
>=20
> - Just talk about Debian, unless explicitly asked for comments
> on other things (i.e. Ubuntu).
>=20
> In particular, it is obvious to me that you have not taken into account
> the size or audience of the paper. It is (probably) the most widely read
> paper in Australia and most of your comments have just given people a
> negative impression of Debian.
Have you surveyed Australia IT Professionals or something? It is bad
to represent a group of people without really knowing what they really
think! Personally, I don't THINK that it has given many a bad
impression of Debian.
>=20
> Perhaps, with the funds being held for us by SPI, it would be useful to
> arrange for you to have a 'refresher' course in dealing with the media.
I think thats up to him to decide if/when he wants one.
>=20
> Or, should you find the demands on your time too pressing, why not use
> this opportunity to step-aside as the Debian press contact.
Love the pun, but IMHO he does a good job.
>=20
> Thanks,
> Anand
>=20
> [1]: <URL: http://smh.com.au/news/breaking/deb...upport-for-por=
ts/2005/07/12/1120934228145.html>
>=20
> --
> `When any government, or any church for that matter, undertakes to say t=
o
> its subjects, "This you may not read, this you must not see, this you a=
re
> forbidden to know," the end result is tyranny and oppression no matter =
how
> holy the motives' -- Robert A Heinlein, "If this goes on --"
>=20
>=20
> BodyID:40505876.2.n.logpart (stored separately)
>=20
>=20
--=20
N Jones
Blogging @ http://nigelj.blogspot.com
Proud Debian & FOSS User
Debian Maintainer of: html2ps & ipkungfu
| |
| Rudi Effe 2005-07-13, 7:55 am |
| Am Mittwoch, 13. Juli 2005 04:04 schrieb Nigel Jones:
> I don't see how his comment was slagging them off.
Maybe "slagging off" is not the right expression. Apart from the last
sentence that I don't really understand (as non-native speaker), I
could imagine that Anand was annoyed about his comments on Ubuntu that
expressed the fear that the project might fork...
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| |
| Florian Weimer 2005-07-13, 7:55 am |
| * Anand Kumria:
> [1]: <URL: http://smh.com.au/news/breaking/deb...0934228145.html>
Apparently, this is subscription only. 8-(
Has this article been republished by another newspaper with less tight
access controls?
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| |
| Hamish Moffatt 2005-07-13, 7:55 am |
| On Wed, Jul 13, 2005 at 11:11:49AM +0200, Florian Weimer wrote:
> * Anand Kumria:
>
>
> Apparently, this is subscription only. 8-(
Registration in some circumstances, but no money..
> Has this article been republished by another newspaper with less tight
> access controls?
Alternatively try bugmenot;
http://www.bugmenot.com/view.php?ur...Fwww.smh.com.au
Hamish
--
Hamish Moffatt VK3SB <hamish@debian.org> <hamish@cloud.net.au>
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| Torsten Landschoff 2005-07-13, 6:02 pm |
| On Wed, Jul 13, 2005 at 08:40:17AM +1000, Anand Kumria wrote:
> Or, should you find the demands on your time too pressing, why not use
> this opportunity to step-aside as the Debian press contact.
Suggestions like these are just way off. Please adjust your attitude.
Greetings
Torsten
| |
| Matthew Garrett 2005-07-13, 6:02 pm |
| Torsten Landschoff <torsten@debian.org> wrote:
>
> --tThc/1wpZn/ma/RB
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
> Content-Disposition: inline
>
> On Wed, Jul 13, 2005 at 08:40:17AM +1000, Anand Kumria wrote:
>
> Suggestions like these are just way off. Please adjust your attitude.
If people are bad at their job, even if they are volunteers, it should
not be considered unreasonable to ask them to stop doing it. On the
other hand, I agree that this was an entirely inappropriate way of
voicing this concern.
--
Matthew Garrett | mjg59-chiark.mail.debian.devel@srcf.ucam.org
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| |
| Brian May 2005-07-14, 2:49 am |
| >>>>> "Torsten" == Torsten Landschoff <torsten@debian.org> writes:
Torsten> [1 <text/plain; us-ascii (7bit)>]
Torsten> On Wed, Jul 13, 2005 at 08:40:17AM +1000, Anand Kumria wrote:[vbcol=seagreen]
Torsten> Suggestions like these are just way off. Please adjust
Torsten> your attitude.
What is the problem with this suggestion? Nobody is an expert at
everything. What is wrong with suggesting somebody delegate a task
that they may not want to do? Perhaps a more positive tone would help?
However, I read the article and didn't see anything negative in it. So
I don't see any need for Martin to delegate the press contact task.
--
Brian May <bam@debian.org>
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| Thijs Kinkhorst 2005-07-14, 6:01 pm |
| On Thu, July 14, 2005 17:20, Thijs Kinkhorst wrote:
> On Wed, July 13, 2005 04:04, Nigel Jones wrote:
>
> I do not -
of couse I meant "I do not agree"... :-)
Thijs
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| Thijs Kinkhorst 2005-07-14, 6:01 pm |
| On Wed, July 13, 2005 04:04, Nigel Jones wrote:
> Love the pun, but IMHO he does a good job.
I do not - while I don't want to judge Joey's skills, for me it's a given
that both the following statements hold: Joey is the only person in the
press team, and the press team does not function well. I don't think he's
incompetent, probably it's out of a lack of time, but the press function
can be performed way better than it is now.
Why? Some concerns:
- The Debian press contact does not even list phone numbers, just an
anonymous email address (See www.debian.org -> contact us). I find that to
be very unprofessional and something that should be changed in order to be
a serious point of contact for the press.
- A lot of the bad press about security was based about dubious
information from blogs and other gossip. An early press release from
Debian with the facts could have gotten out a whole lot more balanced
view. The first statement from Debian about security was released when
everything was solved, i.e. way too late.
- There have not been many interesting press releases in the past year.
What about a news item about a big German city adopting Debian? Tell the
world about secure APT. Branden Robinson as the new DPL is also not
news-worthy appearently.
I've already offered to take part in changing this situation.
regards,
Thijs
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| Matthew Palmer 2005-07-14, 6:01 pm |
| On Wed, Jul 13, 2005 at 11:11:49AM +0200, Florian Weimer wrote:
> * Anand Kumria:
>
>
> Apparently, this is subscription only. 8-(
>
> Has this article been republished by another newspaper with less tight
> access controls?
Lynx is love.
- Matt
| |
| Nigel Jones 2005-07-15, 7:53 am |
| On 15/07/05, Matthew Palmer <mpalmer@debian.org> wrote:
> On Wed, Jul 13, 2005 at 11:11:49AM +0200, Florian Weimer wrote:
-ports/2005/07/12/1120934228145.html>[vbcol=seagreen]
>=20
> Lynx is love.
I think it's just that they generate a random number to decide if they
will let you view without registration (thats what happened for me),
so you must be a lucky one ,)
>=20
> - Matt
>=20
>=20
> BodyID:41067834.2.n.logpart (stored separately)
>=20
>=20
--=20
N Jones
Blogging @ http://nigelj.blogspot.com
Proud Debian & FOSS User
Debian Maintainer of: html2ps & ipkungfu
| |
| Matthew Palmer 2005-07-15, 7:53 am |
| On Fri, Jul 15, 2005 at 08:12:36PM +1200, Nigel Jones wrote:
> On 15/07/05, Matthew Palmer <mpalmer@debian.org> wrote:
> I think it's just that they generate a random number to decide if they
> will let you view without registration (thats what happened for me),
> so you must be a lucky one ,)
No, they allow unregistered access to one article per day, but they work
that one in some fashion that apparently doesn't get triggered with lynx, so
you can view lots of articles (unless they've fixed that bug recently and I
haven't noticed).
- Matt
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