RFC: Make political discussion off-topic by rule (was: America ...)

[Benjamin Scott]

  Well, once again, someone decided to barge onto the list, post some random
political diatribe that had nothing to do with Linux, and it spun into a 30+
message thread that had nothing to do with Linux, and indeed, little to do
with anything other then general complaining.

  The long, obscure technical debates we get sucked into are bad enough.  
This is too much.


  I hereby submit the following Request For Comment to the membership of
this list: Should we make political diatribes like this explicitly off-topic
on gnhlug-discuss?

  Rationale: 

  1. Such discussion causes the legitimate Linux-and-FOSS-related discussion
to get lost in the noise.

  2. There are many, far more appropriate forums for this type of thing,
both on-line and off.  Such discussion belongs there.

  3. This list provides a captive audience, which joined because of
interests in Linux and NH, and not politics.

  4. The argument that "This effects Linux because politics..." is bogus
because it can be generalized for anything.  Example: "I can use Linux to
control my toaster, so let's talk about bread-making recipes."  The fact
that you can draw a line from N to Linux does not mean N is related to
Linux.

  5. Unlike most other off-topic threads, political discussions of this type
tend to be loud, lengthy, and limitless, turning a minor, one-time annoyance
into a repeated, persistent problem.


  If I get sufficient response, we can put this to a vote and we can have
our very first Official Rule in GNHLUG.

  I was *really* hoping it wouldn't come to this, but apparently some people
are too far too eager to push their pet political agendas to be able to act
like responsible, polite people.

  If someone really wants it, I'm sure we can create politics at gnhlug.org to
give those interested a forum for this kind of thing.  (But see point #2
above.)

  Respectfully yours,

-- 
Ben Scott <bscott at ntisys.com>
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