I’m not going to be updating this blog anymore.
The thing that pushed me over the edge was my recent ban at the ubuntuforums.
I’m trying to help out the community and have spend countless hours doing that and the first argument I have I’m out faster than I can blink.
I’m going to be checking this post for a few days to reply to comments, if any.
The website will be up until WordPress decides to shut it down.
Bill Goldberg
32 Comments
June 29, 2009 at 1:54 pm
Sorry to hear that Bill, I really enjoyed your blog, and your posts on the forums. If you ever reconsider, and publish another blog, please let us know.
June 29, 2009 at 3:32 pm
You were banned from ubuntu forums!? Where can I see the thread?
June 29, 2009 at 3:39 pm
June 29, 2009 at 5:55 pm
Sorry to hear it. I have been reading for a while now and loving all things Linux you talk about. Thanks for the great posts, hopefully if you do start another similar project you will let us know.
June 29, 2009 at 6:13 pm
Such a shame, I liked reading this blog. I’ve used a lot of manuals that are posted here.
June 29, 2009 at 6:32 pm
Not sure about the logic here – banned from forum so I’ll stop blogging about Linux. Rise above it and reconsider. This is a great blog.
June 29, 2009 at 7:24 pm
Sorry to hear it… enjoyed your blog. Found you in Google Reader. Too bad the community has taken the fun out of it for you.
June 29, 2009 at 7:54 pm
I’m very sorry to hear that. I am a relatively new Linux user and I found some priceless advise and helpful tutorials here. Don’t be so drastic about it, keep up the good work, you are helping a lot of people!
June 29, 2009 at 8:18 pm
huh? wat is er gebeurd? ik ben een tijdje niet op de fora geweest en er is weer wat aan de hand… :-s
June 29, 2009 at 8:35 pm
Sounds rather harsh of them to banish you. But why stop this blog, I mean, your readers aren’t the moderators at the Ubuntu forum now are they?
June 29, 2009 at 9:17 pm
@ Daniel, Stefanie, … :
The thread isn’t publicly accessible anymore.
I basically said that I agreed with some other posters.
I received an infraction for harassment.
A whole lot of people got one from a mod on a powertrip who supported the other poster.
I asked for it to be retracted and the mod said he would rather ban me.
The whole thing is rather childish and stupid.
The ban isn’t the only reason I will not be updating this blog anymore. But I won’t go into the other reasons.
I might join the Belgian/Dutch Ubuntu forums and help out there but not as much as before.
July 5, 2009 at 10:30 pm
So did you really get banned or did you just recieve an infraction. I am asking because I also once recieved an infraction but it was soon retracted when I explained the matter to the staff member who issued it. And anyways you don’t get banned by recieving just one infraction AFAIK.
June 29, 2009 at 10:23 pm
hey don’t do that we are tracing you
stay any write any post takes mintues from
we like u we hope like us and stay updating your blog your
June 30, 2009 at 1:57 am
This is beyond retarded.
If anyone official from Ubuntu is reading this — this kind of behavior from your mods, especially if it isn’t justified, isn’t helping Ubuntu’s adoption in the world.
Yeah, stick with Debian forums. Usually much more mature.
June 30, 2009 at 2:10 am
I understand you’re upset for being banned from forums, but I’m not sure why u want to stop this blog. I just recently stumbled upon it, and rather enjoy it.
But just because I like it doesn’t mean you should put in the hours it takes to running a blog.
If you want to stop…well I guess it is that simple.
And nothing I can say will change that. So thank you for giving me some good reading.
I rather enjoyed it.
June 30, 2009 at 9:41 pm
Zonde joh. Hopelijk kan je op ander vlakken nog meedenken en doen aan ubuntu/linux. Ubuntuforums is ook maar een stukje van de hele community, misschien ligt je die niet zo (je bent daarin niet de enige hoor).
June 30, 2009 at 10:09 pm
@ Niels:
Ik heb me ingeschreven op http://forum.ubuntu-nl.org/ en zal daar nu mijn steentje bijdragen.
July 1, 2009 at 10:01 am
Yes, me too sorry to hear this. Your blog is a daily check for me and is one of the most useful Linux blogs.
I have posted on Ubuntu and find a section of the members to be full of themselves in their self righteous defence of their religion Linux.
I shall leave your blog in my daily check bookmark folder just in case you decide to change your mind. Which I hope you will find a way of doing. Your contribution is too valuable to be lost entirely.
July 3, 2009 at 2:46 pm
I’m sorry to hear that. If you change your mind I would be glad to keep reading your very useful posts. I hope you will reconsider. Thanks for all of the great info.
July 6, 2009 at 10:23 pm
It sounds like you are pretty upset about getting banned, as I think any of us would be. But keep in mind that making rash decisions while you are depressed about something is very unhealthy behavior. Do not let the stupid actions of other people dictate how you live your life and limit what you have to offer the world.
I have truly appreciated your blog. Please reconsider your choice.
July 8, 2009 at 11:02 pm
Jeepers! Sorry to hear you got banned, Bill. I have always enjoyed reading your unique take on things and I will miss you around the forums. It’s a great blog too, I hope you reconsider and continue with it.
All the best,
Sealbhach.
July 9, 2009 at 5:23 am
I am sorry to hear that. I read your blog for useful tricks about linux. I think that you should maybe reconsider this situation. You are helping a lot of people with this blog. I even have you on my ubuntuforums signature to spread the word lol. Keep the blog, it will be a shame if we will have to go somewhere else to read about linux.
July 15, 2009 at 9:47 pm
You should absolutely reconsider your stand. Your blog is a great store of knowledge on usability and thoughts. I have referred people to your blog countless number of times. It would really be a tragic thing, if people were to now find other places to get their Linux informations. Don’t give up on something you are so good at, not for a forum at least.
July 19, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Thanks for the support guys, I didn’t realize so many cared.
July 20, 2009 at 10:11 pm
I just downloaded linux, and I’m using your blog for help! Forget about those who harden their own ignorance, lest we become like them!!
July 21, 2009 at 1:39 am
Hear,hear! add my name to the list of All the Honourable posters endorsing this splendid blog.
July 25, 2009 at 3:10 pm
I just found this blog. Sad to see it die already.
July 31, 2009 at 3:02 am
This was a good blog.
I remember when LaRoza got banned. Sometimes “Humanity to Others” needs to apply both ways. I know nothing of your situation, but I hate to see the Code of Conduct used as a weapon.
August 2, 2009 at 12:13 am
use bug me not if you need a password i can give you one
August 6, 2009 at 12:58 am
I found this blog just a couple of days ago and I spent a big deal of time reading it since then because It answered so many questions I had about this beautiful world of Linux.
I really liked the way you explain the steps, clear and straightforward.
I’m joining the group of people who want you to reconsider your decision!
August 19, 2009 at 2:37 am
Sorry for the extremely late post. I stumbled upon your account and saw that it was banned. If it makes a difference, I have over 47 accumulated infraction points. One was over a topic of pornography. I said porn, and one of their power-hungry admins gave me an infraction of 6 points and forced every one of my posts to go through moderation. When I complained, they tacked on another 5 points and gave me a 30 day ban.
Unfortunately, UF is flawed in that you aren’t able to see ANYTHING while banned, which is backwards in-itself. I can log out and have all the benefits of a browsing user. I was not aware of my ban, so I used my launchpad account to query the support on why I was banned. Instead of getting an answer, they permanently banned that account.
Now, while I would probably shrug it off, I’ve been done this way every summer since 2006. I would say something that neither me nor anybody else would find offensive, and I would get a 30 day ban for it. What was interesting was the fact that the only admins that ever banned me were the ones that didn’t agree with me. Secondly, those admins happened to be full admins, not just staff members. That includes Matthew, Bodhi.zazen, and KiwiNZ. First was KiwiNZ, second was Matthew, and this last one was Bodhi.zazen.
To make matters worse, every time I’ve been banned, I’d recieve a PM about a day or two later from Ubuntu-Geek with a sincere apology, but the admins still have no problem giving me infractions left and right. Last one was over copyright infringement for a site that publicly announces that it was OK to hotlink images if it was being used for conversation/dissection/study and not for monetary benefit.
But what really chaps my ass is when an admin gave me an infraction and refused to reverse it even though he was wrong on the basis that “I was rude to him, so he was going to let the infraction stand”. Ubuntu-Geek came in and reversed the infraction. To this day Rocket2DMn still harasses me over private messaging.
It seems as if the Administration has no problem ridding themselves of those they don’t see fit. Best case I can see is LaRoza. LaRoza wasn’t a bad admin, in fact, he was one of the best admins I had seen. Better than the half-baked stand-in’s they have now.
I’m not going to post my username because I’ve gotten infractions before for posting “Rude information” about the administration there. I stay for the community, not for the corrupt leadership that plagues it.
Again, late but better than never – Matt
August 19, 2009 at 3:33 am
Oh, and totally forgot my very first infraction that I received from calling someone a “doodie head”. No joke, if I could post a screenshot, I would.