From: schubert@capri.berkeley.edu (John Schubert)
Subject: Sarcasm, Confusion, and my Timothy Sipples Post
Reply-To: schubert@capri.berkeley.edu.UUCP (John Schubert)
Organization: U.C. Berkeley -- ERL
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1992 06:22:47 GMT

Well hello all you fellow OS/2'ers and Timothy Sipples supporters!

I thought that I should post a "little" clarification regarding my LONG
post, "Timothy Sipples, RIP, the evil has been destroyed! REJOICE!!"

It seems like it was a bit too sarcastic as many have misinterpreted its
true meaning.  For this reason I would like to clear things up.

That post was PURE SARCASM!  It was a flame meant for one person: Greg Cronau.
Greg is the person who first flamed Tim in a very demeaning way last week.
I tried to structure my post in such a way so that you, the readers of
comp.os.os2.misc, would not waste your time reading it.  It seems that
most of you got the jist of my post, and the ones that thought it was a
flame on Tim came around when either I or "others" :-) "explained" it to
you.

Before I go on I would like to share some comments regarding Tim that I
have seen in some posts and in emails to me as a result of my post.  All
of these were offered in DEFENSE of Tim against my perceived flame on him:

------------------------- start of quotes ---------------------------

>Timothy Sipples has done more for promoting OS/2 2.0 and its use in this
>newsgroup than any person or company to date. He has gone out of his way time
>and time again to help people (including myself) overcome their installation
>problems, hardware problems, configuration problems, et al...

>Timothy Sipples: You're doing an excellent job of informing and educating
>the users and potential users of OS/2 2.0.

---

>Praise be to TIMOTHY SIPPLES that I even know of OS/2 (I wandered on to this
>news group by accident last October and decided that, contrary to all the
>magazine reports, OS/2 [did have an] ice cube's chance in hell.

---

>Look, I really dont know how this was started, but I do know that Mr Sipples
>has helped me solve my problems with OS/2 many many times and showing a lot
>of patience. I value his input in this newsgroup.

-------------------------- end of quotes -------------------------------

It seems very apparent to me that Tim has ALOT of support and respect in this
newsgroup.

I would now like to echo those comments and add some of my own:

[I should also say that I am NOT being sarcastic]

I can say, without a doubt that Timothy Sipples has been the most helpful
person in this newsgroup.  I cannot count the times that I have seen him
help others out with their OS/2 questions and problems.  On numerous
occasions he has graciously taken the time to help me with my own small
problems and questions on OS/2.  Even though some of them were really
stupid, and eventually turned out to have already been answered in the FAQ.

In January I tried to get all of the information that I could from IBM
regarding OS/2 2.0.  I found one IBM file that explained OS/2 to a point.
However I was still in the dark.  I felt lost.  That is until Tim posted his
FAQ.  I could not believe it.  All of my OS/2 questions were answered in the
FAQ.  What's more I could not believe the length of that thing.  It was
obvious to me that a great deal of time had been invested in making it.
What's more it still surprises me how much work Tim does in his revisions.

So it was late one day last week when I saw the flame on Tim.  I thought an
injustice had been done to one of the kindest people I have ever seen on the
net.  So I decided to write a post of my own.

Perhaps part of a message posted as a result of my long post will explain
the reason behind why I and alot of other people were offended by the way
Tim was treated.

[This particular poster was under the impression that I was flaming Tim...]

>Do you really think that it was Tim's intention to piss off your buddy-buddy?
>Hardly. It was an attempt to direct him to a means of FINDING A SOLUTION TO
>HIS PROBLEMS. Can you repeat that?

While I am by no means Greg's buddy-buddy it was very apparent to me that
Tim was indeed just trying to help Greg out.  I guess some people just
don't like "certain" solutions though.  Even in Tim's response to the flame
it was apparent to me that Tim was still trying to help Greg find a solution
to his problem.  Now talk about dedication to OS/2!!!  It also says alot about
the integrity of one Timothy Sipples.  I, to say the least, was impressed.

So I think it can be said for all of us that we are very happy that Tim has 
a big presence on this group.  And I think that I can also speak for everyone
(or at least everyone - 1  :-) ) that the attack on him was perceived as
an attack on all of us.

That was the reason for my post, and if anyone who thought that it was an
attack on Tim re-reads it with this in mind I think that you will probably
enjoy it alot more and also see that I was actually praising Tim for all of
the work he has done for us.

So to Tim all I can say is, "thanks!!"

It seems as though your time and effort is very well appreciated around here.
I know that it is by me.

-John Schubert
schubert@united.berkeley.edu
Newsgroups: comp.os.os2.misc