# Abrasive language on the mailing list

**URL:** <https://discourse.chef.io/t/abrasive-language-on-the-mailing-list/6692>\
**Category:** Chef Infra (archive)\
**Created:** [June 22, 2015, 10:01pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/abrasive-language-on-the-mailing-list/6692 "2015-06-22T22:01:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Nathen\_Harvey3](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.chef.io/nathen_harvey3/32/16_2.png) [@Nathen\_Harvey3](https://discourse.chef.io/u/Nathen_Harvey3)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 10:01pm UTC](https://discourse.chef.io/t/abrasive-language-on-the-mailing-list/6692/1 "2015-06-22T22:01:41Z")

</div>

Douglas,

I am really sorry that you are so frustrated and feeling stuck with  
Chef. I am also disappointed and hurt reading some of the words  
you’ve used in an attempt to work past this frustration and get Chef  
working for you. We all want to see you succeed but need to have a  
break from your messages on the mailing list.

Your continued use of language that is not considerate, respectful, or  
professional warrants corrective action. As such, you will be removed  
from the Chef mailing list for a period of thirty days.

Our Chef Community Guidelines  
[https://github.com/chef/chef-rfc/blob/master/rfc020-community-guidelines.md](https://github.com/chef/chef-rfc/blob/master/rfc020-community-guidelines.md)  
are in place to make the community a welcoming space for everyone to  
participate. Your unprofessional language and seemingly little effort  
to understand the challenges you’ve faced have led some people on our  
list to simply filter your messages to the trash. This is clearly  
something that everyone is capable of doing but I do not believe it’s  
what anyone wants. Part of the reason messages are being filtered is  
that you are exhibiting some of the textbook behavior of a “help  
vampire” [http://www.skidmore.edu/~pdwyer/e/eoc/help\_vampire.htm](http://www.skidmore.edu/~pdwyer/e/eoc/help_vampire.htm).

Please contact me off-list at [nharvey@chef.io](mailto:nharvey@chef.io). I’d like to see if  
there is an upcoming Chef Fundamentals Workshop that we could invite  
you to attend or some other opportunities to improve your experience  
with Chef.

I am happy to discuss further with you or anyone else at just about any time.

Thank you,  
Nathen Harvey  
Community Ombudsperson  
+1-202-368-7264  
@nathenharvey