Re: Bad/Good ideas and damage control by experienced participants

[Brian E Carpenter <[e-mail]>]

On 15-Jun-22 02:47, John Levine wrote:
> It appears that Miles Fidelman  <[e-mail]> said:
>> On the other hand, is it really a negative when someone is snarky with a
>> snot-nosed kid who doesn't appreciate being told that their "great new
>> idea" is a retread of something folks learned not to do decades ago?
> 
> Depends.  If your goal is to make sure nobody new ever comes to the IETF, sure, do that.
> 
> On the other hand, if someone new goes to the effort to write up an I-D and ask us
> to look at it, there are a lot better ways to see if you can redirect their interest
> to something that might be useful.  Sometimes they may go off in a sulk, but sometimes
> a little politeness and specific references to prior work they should read about can
> go a long way.

I think it is also a very effective sieve. Newcomers who respond positively
to this are much more likely to become genuine contributors than people
who won't listen and learn. The ones who don't listen are unlikely to
succeed anyway.

    Brian