nege's Journal: Quit Slashdot, Discussed

I need to write about this.

Summary: This is a guy who is telling everyone to stop reading slashdot. Some of the points he made are valid, though most are completely subjective and his own opinion, and he does not do a great job at actually convincing anyone of anything, which I figure is his angle in this page. I feel bad for people who read this and actually "quit" slashdot since that would mean they are pretty gulliable. People should make their OWN decisions based on available info, not because some dude in washington said so.

I am mostly just going to talk about his 9 reasons to quit:

#9. Slashdot is a plot by Microsoft to destroy the productivity of Linux users.
OK, so aside from the very obvious sounding "conspiracy theory" tone of this remark, he provides absolutely no proof, not even a reasonable inkling (Microsoft sued slashdot so that we wouldnt talk about their own lawsuit? As I recalled there were lots of posts about BOTH, thanks). Here he hits on one of his major issues: that slashdot takes time away from coding. Just like TV, and other websites, and the weather, and your best friend who doesnt code. Get over it - life is full of distractions and you are resposible for determining your priorities. You have a choice, which is what all this is about. Quitting slashdot will NOT make you code more, because if you just dont want to code you will find something else to do, and if you DID want to code you would.

#8. Screaming 14-year-old boys attempting to prove to each other that they are more 3133t than j00.

I agree with this - but that is why browse at 4-5 for one thing. Another method is that you wait until there are a good amount of comments on the post, that way many of the trolls will be moved out of the conversation. On the other hand, this is the internet and everyone has a voice. Some people use that voice to spread goatse, and as an american I protect that right. ;) I know folks who just dont read comments as well and this works pretty well. Is this any worse than IRC???

#7. Technical opinions refereed by popular vote means lousy technical opinions.

Again, read the comments at your own discretion. I take all comments with a grain of salt, and it is true that most modded up does NOT mean most valuable information. If you need a howto, go to www.tldp.org, not slashdot for crying out loud.

#6. Community myth that Linux is technically superior to any other operating system in the known universe.

I see many comments which refute this. Quite often comments posing a dissenting but intellegent point of view get modded up. Everyone is aware here that there is a lot of MS Hate at the site. Frankly how much is your own opinion, and again only read comments if you want to.

#5. Butt-ugly visual design.

I agree, but this is complete opinion, not a reason to convince people to quit. It is not like the site is unusable, this is only a matter of taste. The links to the left which he mentions are indeed cryptic, but I have found them to be mostly unnecessary anyway. Did he try to give the site creators feedback? He did not mention but I think that if he did he would have mentioned that here. I guess it was just easier to quit...

#4. Gullible editorial staff continues to post links to any and all articles that vaguely criticize Linux in any way.

Mostly true, but you are a smart reader, take what is valuable and leave what is not. I only find about 40-50% of all posts useful or interesting to me. Opinions are like belly buttons. (everyone has got one) What interests me may not interest you and so on.

#3. Gullible editorial staff continues to post links to bogus pseudoscience articles by crackpots.

Frankly I think that the articles in this vain are interesting and still hold value. Even if some of the scientific data is flawed (and this is ALWAYS open to debate, even for those that the author does not decry as "crackpot") they can stimulate thinking, and get ideas that may not see the light of day into a forum where people can discuss. Slashdot does not maintain, nor are they responsible for, the content of the sites they link to - they merely provide a service saying "hey this might be interesting to you". Not "hey check this out, its FACT!!!!"

#2. Editorial/comment system pretends to be democratic but in reality most content remains firmly in the iron clasp of the editors.

Yes it is true, they run the site you know. Ultimatley I think it is ok for a small body (who created the site mind you) to control what articles get posted, otherwise it would be just too darn messy, and the value would go down. Sounds like this guy is upset because Hemos didnt post some stories for him...

#1. Two words: Jon Katz.
I agree that Jon Katz is a pretty crappy tech writer. I think the book he wrote "Geeks" was good for the time period (dot.bomb era) but have been put off by most of his articles, and I think most people agree. That is why he hasnt had a post in well over a year. So this #1 reason is completely bogus.

Alternatives to Slashdot
Thanks for the links buddy, I'll keep them in mind. Can never have too many resources for a topic you love.

Again, use your own judgement in sites you visit. If you don't like slashdot, certainly dont go there. If you do, then go for it. I do not think that the reasons that the author mentions are nearly good enough for a "boycott". I would take that statement back if Slashdot was killing babies or kidnapping programmers and making them read slashdot, ala Clockwork Orange. I have no reason to believe they are currently involved in either of those, or equally nasty things.

This post represents just my own personal belly-button.

I should also note that I came across this in another user journal, and she actually quit ./ after reading it. I find it hard to believe that these folks would "drink the koolaid" but you know, thats how it goes.

Standard Disclaimer:
YMMV, IANAL, etc etc etc....