Stuffy People Suck

And now, my valued readers, I bequeath my laments forthwith…

My last post, which was little more than embedding my lastest product review, sparked some really *fun* comments. I love that we’re discussing a glowing eyed, half possessed, flame throwing desk accessory. It’s fun, light hearted, and occasionally enlightening. I thank you for that.

My frustrations lie with larger, stuffier sites. In this case, the Linux Journal website. They get tens of thousands of visitors a day, and maybe a dozen comments. And those are often guarded, timid, or cruel. In talking with the webmaster (webmistress?), she made a good point that because of the volume of visitors, people are hesitant to look dumb or get shot down. It makes for a stuffy online community that isn’t a whole lot of fun to be involved with. I comment my arse off there, because I think it has the potential to be a fun place to make some great contacts. But I digress…

My wish? That Linux Journal would be filled with folks like you that aren’t afraid to make a fart joke, or aren’t afraid to look silly just for the sake of looking silly. So if you read my blog, and are a Linux enthusiast, go to linuxjournal.com and help them all lighten up. If you’re not a Linux fan, feel free to continue making flaming fart jokes here. Either way, wherever we go online, let’s vow to smack down nasty people, k?

10 thoughts on “Stuffy People Suck”

  1. Just a brief visit to linuxjournal makes my eyes glaze over with a “what does any of this mean”, reaction. I quickly slink from the room with the knowledge that my geek-cred is woefully lacking.

    And you didn’t mention that the flamethrower only works in fart mode. That makes all the difference in the world. Jumping back to the “I want one” camp.

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  2. I guess I should stress that I’m not expecting folks here from the “e” or similar contacts to go over to linuxjournal.com and start posting. (Although, even without Linux expertise, it would be a fun group!) I’m just looking at my sitemeter logs, and seeing LOTS of lurkers coming in from Linux machines. If you’re geeky enough to browse the web on penguin power, you’re geeky enough to comment at the linuxjournal site. Heck, you probably got HERE from THERE, so you already know the way. 🙂

    Fellow “e”ers? Like I said, you’re always welcome wherever I hang my hat — but I wasn’t trying to lure you away with flaming penguin farts or anything.

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  3. Shawn:

    Just a little note to say that any of your visitors/readers/viewers would be most welcome in the Breaking News section on LJ. Even those who don’t appreciate the subtle wonderfulness of flaming penguin farts will find something they can enjoy, I promise!

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  4. I have been lurking around the Linux journal forum for a little while. I will start posting my noobish thoughts soon. I think getting my Linux Journal shirt from the contest will give me enough confidence to do that.

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  5. LoL @ Justin Ryan’s invitation to “Breaking News” re:fart jokes. Now that’s funny. Silent but deadly you might say. 🙂 It’s not that some of us Linux folks aren’t fluent in flatulence, it’s that our source is open and we can’t build up the requisite pressure.

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  6. I would love to see everyone who reads Shawn’s blog over at LinuxJournal.com. I would agree that a lot of the content is at a pretty high level, but at the same time… you never know what sort of other fun stuff you might find. There are more and more “mainstream” linux-powered gadgets coming to the marketplace (just ask Shawn), and even if you have very little interest in these things, youmight find an article by Doc Searls that is really about marketing or internet privacy. I think we can all relate to these things now and then.

    So, hope to see you there! Fart jokes are not required. 😉

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  7. Shawn,

    I’d feel really irresponsible if I didn’t say this. Please warn the Linuxjournal crowd that if they keep inviting us, we will, indeed show up. It’ll be just like a Thanksgiving dinner where the children outnumber the adults by a two-to-one margin. Imagine the adults at this dinner telling the children that this year the children’s table has been abolished. Everybody’s gonna sit at the grown-ups table…and there’s more than enough wine for everybody. And Beer. And after-dinner cognac.

    Sounds like fun, huh?

    Just sayin’. 🙂

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