Being a systems administrator and software designer, I have been a
member of many forums and listserves over the years. When I have found myself
a member of a moderated or censored list, I have most often quit the list and
offered a censor-free alternative. Ideas and information are most always
of a higher content and quality when they are allowed to flow freely and without
constraint.
That having been said, I have also found that most lists (and their
hosts) have some basic rules and/or content requirements that attempt to keep
the list clean, on-point, and non-combative. It has been my past
experience that when list content is degraded, topics veer far from course, and
the atmosphere has become abrasive, many hosts have abandoned ship. I
would hate to see this valuable forum for camaraderie, information exchange,
and shared experience be lost to such an end.
As a new member of the list, I am not aware of any such guidelines for
this list, but common sense and basic etiquette might suggest that some of the
recent postings would have been better received if they had been sent
privately, or not at all.
