Stop the maddness!

Benjamin Scott bscott at ntisys.com
Sun Apr 25 22:09:01 EDT 2004


  Okay, do we need to split the list into <on-topic> and <off-topic> or what?

  I've always believed that this list is for and of GNHLUG members, and not
just about "Linux" or even "Free Software".  GNHLUG members tend to have
common interests and concerns beyond those topics, as well as open minds.  
That is what makes the group, and this forum, so useful.  So, as a firm
believer in the free and open exchange of ideas, I considered the occasional
"non-Linux" content to be not only "acceptable" but "worthwhile".  Until
recently, I assumed that people could reasonably police themselves, and keep
the noise down to a dull roar.

  However, lately, I have begun to suspect otherwise.  Some people have been
using this list to push their pet political agendas, without even a token
attempt to veil it in Linux clothing.  Even the tangentially related stuff is
starting to become overwhelming through sheer volume.  This latest
NH/MA/taxes/traffic stuff totals around *seventy messages* in a two-day
period.  That's a fair bit beyond "occasional non-Linux content".

  This kind of thing has caused the signal-to-noise ratio of this forum to go
crashing through the floor.  Worse still, it chases people away.  People begin
to see GNHLUG (and thus the entire Linux community) as noisy, argumentative,
and unhelpful.  I consider that a major loss.

  So, I respectfully request that everybody here (and I include myself in this
admonition) try and keep the politics and other off-topic noise off this list,
and in a more appropriate forum (of which, as others have noted in the past,
there are many).

-- 
Ben Scott <bscott at ntisys.com>
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