List etiquette

On Sat, 5 Mar 2005, M H Stein wrote: I realize my tone at times can be gruff or even seem gruff, and in this case the latter was probably the case even if I'm not willing to admit to the former. At any rate, Jim has been with us long enough to know that this is NOT a mailing list for general computer discussions (and pleading ignorance to this is not a good excuse) and that we overall take a dim view to these sorts of questions. If Jim was a newbie then I certainly would have been more humane in my reply. But he's been subscribed for at least half a year. He knows the deal. Why? As was already mentioned, it's a slippery slope. You let one question through, OK. But then Cornelius figures since Aloysius was able to ask a generic PC support question, and it got answered, why shouldn't he? So Cornelius asks and he receives. Next thing you know, Hortense needs to know how to do some mundane PC maintenance thing that also has nothing to do with vintage computing and poses the question, etc., etc., and before you know it we are zipping down the mountainside at 70MPH towards a mailing list that has no former resemblance to its title, the CLASSIC COMPUTERS mailing list. THERE IS NOTHING CLASSIC ABOUT MAKING WINDOWS XP RUN ON YOUR LAPTOP AND NOR WILL IT SUBJECTIVELY BE FOR DOZENS OF YEARS! Now, you may be thinking, "Oh, Sellam. You are so dramatic. This won't happen." To which I would reply, you're damn right, because I'm not going to let it happen. In thinking about it, the split between CCTALK and CCTECH, and the discussions on why it came about, can be confusing to anyone who hasn't been here since the beginning and understands the historical reasons behind the split. I can see how people can become confused by the "Off-topic/On-topic" dual nature of the split list. I think we need to make it a bit more clear that even though it's subtitled "On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts", this does not give carte blanche to talk about whatever one feels. What it means is: If you ONLY want to discuss vintage computing and you ONLY want to read postings of that nature, you subscribe to CCTECH, which only presents moderated messages. If you don't mind the occasional off-topic banter (and there is plenty) and do appreciate a more relaxed conversational forum, then you can subscribe to CCTALK where posts are not moderated. HOWEVER, under NO circumstances is it to be perceived that the phrase "off-topic" included in the subtitle of CCTALK implies that you are allowed to go off-topic! In the very least, you should not expect it to be a shield against the flamage that will be blasted your way when you post a blatantly off-topic message. All it means is that the OCCASIONAL off-topic message is tolerated because those joining this list have agreed to be dispositioned towards them thusly (and only then to a LIMITED extent!), but they are still NOT ALLOWED. Throw that in the FAQ and make every newbie read it and agree to it. -- Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org [ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ] [ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]