Quoting Trent W. Buck (trentbuck@gmail.com):
Andrew McGlashan wrote:
Thank you for your efforts, but I am still not convinced
ISTR a study showing the more evidence you provide, the more people tend to cling to their (contraindicated) beliefs. Anybody have a reference?
I don't, but I'm reminded of a passage I put into the User Group HOWTO (which I maintain for the Linux Documentation Project): Along those lines, bear in mind that, for many people, perhaps most, an "advocate" is perceived as a salesman, and thus classified as someone to resist rather than listen to fairly. They've never heard of someone urging them to adopt a piece of software without benefiting materially, so they assume there must be something in it for you and will push back, and act as if they're doing you a personal favour to even listen, let alone try your recommendations. I recommend bringing such discussions back to Earth immediately, by pointing out that software policy should be based in one's own long-term self interest, that you have zero personal stake in their choices, and that you have better uses for your time than speaking to an unreceptive audience. After that, if they're still interested, at least you won't face the same artificial obstacle. Passage concerns the noxious effects most often produced by _software_ advocacy, but the point has general application. http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/User-Group-HOWTO-4.html Unfortunately, the Internet is full of people who imagine that it's your job to convince them of things, and telling you that you need to try _harder_ as if you had nothing else to do in life.