Hey Hey,

I stared at this post for quite some time, deciding if I wanted to reply to it or not... and I decided I may as well, since I was a PM I sent that was used to start this thread.

Why do we always fear starting another flame war why cant we discuss anything without Somebody getting offended and resorting to flames.
Because there have been several of these type threads in the past and no one can stay calm, newbies get all offended and get mouthy about it, and then senior members get all offended and get lippy, then some seniors defend some newbies, and some newbies defend some seniors and you get an all out flame war. If that doesn't happen then you get the newbies and the useless post-whores teaming up against the people that actually want to contribute to this site.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying all newbies are useless, I'm just saying the majority are. Take a look at the number of people that join in a day, and then compare that to the number of people that contribute something worthwhile. The numbers are always low, and they never search, they ask questions that have been asked 100s of times, or that could have been answered by typing the exact same thing into google and clicking the I'm feeling lucky button. I don't blame the fact that they are new to this field for that, I blame that fact that people, and society in general, are lazy. I have posted my opinions on this site before, and that was why I used the PM this time, everyone here knows how I feel.

You said there should be some sort of test. Why not use Addicts Fourm as a test. 275 posts are a fair enough test. Trust me i have read each and every post in the Addits fourm and didn't found even a single Security related post there. It could have been put to a better use than that there are no newb's to Interfere you Security Gurus there.
You'll also notice then that I very seldom post in that forum, I tend to ignore it and leave it for the drivel that it is. We have several senior members who are nothing more than glorified post-whores, and they raise their numbers in their so that the general census doesn't see them doing it. Although I'll have to question how you've read every post in addicts when you don't have enough posts to enter the forum. As for Addicts being a good test, that's not true at all. We have way too many post whores around here for that to be a good test. I post a lot and we have members who joined at the same time as me, and even later than me, that have twice as many posts as I do. The titles have nothing to do with how much you know, just how much you post, and how long you've been able to survive without being banned. I think part of the problem is that we are using the term newbie in different ways. I'm talking newbies to computer security, not just this site. New users of this site should be tested for their knowledge, yes... but that doesn't mean that members that are already here have that knowledge, be they seniors, newbies or addicts, It also doesn't mean that newbies are lacking that knowledge.

You want a prime example of this, someone with the title of Senior member posted a question on the main page under like networking security about a computer not booting. The question should have been posted in operating systems, or hardware depending on the circumstances (I believe it was a windows blue screen error, so most likely operating systems), but nope... they posted in network security. Completely off base.

As for starting a discussion and seeing what happens, this has been attempted before. The sad part is the majority of the members of this site are complete geeks with no outside life. They rely on this site, not only for it's security but also for a life. They don't want this site to go security only. They will tell you that this is a community and that everything goes. I have come to accept this and agree with it. There are several people from this site whom I speak with on a regular basis, there are also many people that I consider to be good friends of mine. I could care less what goes on in Cosmos, GCC and Addicts these days, I care about the crap that is posted on the main page. I also know that it'll never change, which I have said. Like I stated, you'll find more interesting subjects on the Dell Tech Support Site. People get irritated when AntiOnline is refered to as a hackers resource. They should be mad, it's not even close. It's a general tech support site. The slogan of the site should be changed to reflect that -- "AntiOnline - Putting AOLs technicians out of work one post at a time.". This site does not provide Maximum Secuity for a Connected World. Most of the time we're supplying tech support for those who can't connect, and those who are connected don't even have an understanding of basic security, let alone maximum security, whatever that may be.

and the question should I use a firewall you got to take into the consideration the skill level of the poster, he was asking from a newb's prespective, we could have given a answer from a newb prespective, no but you guys showered him with all your geek stuff And started a Flame whether Newb's should post or not.
I have no interest what-so-ever in taking into account the skill level of the poster. If the poster doesn't understand a response, they can ask another question or go learn something themselves instead of asking to be spoonfed.

At times this site reminds me of my college classes. We had a prof who said, here's the Apache manual, here's the Apache tarball now go install it on your computer, I want to see it running by next weeks class. Everyone would get pissed off because he didn't hand out step-by-step instructions on how to install it. The problem is that people don't want to learn anymore. They want everything laid out for them nice and easy like.

I know what TCP/IP or Subnet is i have a Masters Degree in computer application if that makes you feel better.
I wasn't implying that you didn't know what those terms meant, you is both singular and plural... although judging from some of your typos (yes I'm aware that this post is most likely riddled with them), I'm surprised you have your masters... I really expected you to be a high school student.

I will do you a favour i will make this post public and leave, i don't have that many AP trust me you can easily ban me i promise i will not create another accout and leave this site. Maybe this post lead to a constructive dissuction that might make this site a bit better.
I also never asked you to leave, or implied anything of the sort. I have seen you contribute to the site, so I'm not quite sure how many comments really applied to you. I pointed out that you had the newbie title simply because you made judgements on this site that dated back quite a ways.

as for f2b:

Again I could care less if newbies are scared to post. Everyone things newbies should be allowed a grace period where they aren't negged, I disagree with this. Post something that doesn't belong and be negged. You said it yourself, there are rules in the FAQ. If they haven't read them that's not my problem... it's theirs. Half the time it's over things where common sense should have prevailed. As far as seniors telling others what to do, it's not a matter of that. It's a matter of using APs to say what stays and what doesn't. After all that's what the AP system is for. If you neg enough stupid people away, they'll eventually get the point. As far as creating your own forum, many users have done that, some of them have been attacked for ripping off AO and so on.

My thoughts in that PM were my own business and really nobody else's but read away, enjoy, and post. Most people around here know my thoughts and they also know that they aren't going to change. I've lightened up on the whole security only thing, but I still believe this place is nothing more than glorified tech support with a bunch of post-whoring senior members.

Peace,
HT

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Apparently f2b deleted his comments, but I'll leave that section in my post so that others may read and enjoy.
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