nanog mailing list archives
Re: Stealth Blocking
From: Albert Meyer <albert () waller net>
Date: Wed, 23 May 2001 19:33:43 -0500
At 04:49 PM 5/23/01 -0400, Shawn McMahon wrote:
You're assuming that the responses are an attempt to convince the troll. They're not; nobody cares what the troll thinks. The responses are to convince the peanut gallery, because the fact is that the vast majority of those reading this (or any) mailing list are not posting, and many of them are undecided on any issue that comes up. We respond to trolls so that the lurkers will hear the rational sides of the story, not just the troll side. This has the unfortunate side effect of feeding the trolls, but it's an acceptable risk if it enhances the clue level of someone who isn't yet lost.
I disagree. This isn't CLUELESS-NEWBIE-L. Anyone reading NANOG can probably smell a troll. I know it's hard to resist feeding them - I participated in my share of trollfests on SPAM-L in 98 and 99 (not to mention the flamewars between genuine anti-spammers who disagreed about methods), but I like to think that I learned from the experience. Trolls don't go away until they stop getting responses. If you must enlighten the peanut gallery, "Go away troll" would suffice. Anything more guarantees that he will continue trolling. Arguing with a troll as if he were a rational person gives him the appearance of credibility.You can't get the last word. I know, I've tried. You can't. No matter how irrefutably you prove your point, he will simply embellish his troll and post it again.
Current thread:
- Re: Stealth Blocking, (continued)
- Re: Stealth Blocking Mitch Halmu (May 23)
- Re: Stealth Blocking Jason Slagle (May 24)
- Re: Stealth Blocking Valdis . Kletnieks (May 24)
- Re: Stealth Blocking Jason Slagle (May 24)
- RE: Stealth Blocking Jeremiah Kristal (May 23)
- RE: Stealth Blocking Mitch Halmu (May 23)
- RE: Stealth Blocking John A. Tamplin (May 24)
- Re: Stealth Blocking Christopher A. Woodfield (May 23)
- Re: Stealth Blocking Albert Meyer (May 23)
- Re: Stealth Blocking Shawn McMahon (May 23)
- Re: Stealth Blocking Albert Meyer (May 23)
- Re: Stealth Blocking Shawn McMahon (May 24)
- Re: Stealth Blocking Albert Meyer (May 24)
- MTU sizing? was stealth blocking bmanning (May 24)
- Why are you all still here? (Was Re: Stealth Blocking) mike (May 24)
- Re: Why are you all still here? (Was Re: Stealth Blocking) Mitch Halmu (May 24)
- finding POPs Miles Fidelman (May 23)
- Re: Stealth Blocking Shawn McMahon (May 23)
- Re: Stealth Blocking Adam Rothschild (May 23)
- RE: Stealth Blocking David Schwartz (May 23)