On Jan 9, 2005, at 12:54 PM, Benjamin Scott wrote:
Should we make political diatribes like this explicitly off-topic on gnhlug-discuss?
Much as I want to vote yes, I have to say 'No.'
I would ask that folks involved in such discussions flag them with [OT] in the subject, so those of us (like me) who would prefer to ignore them can do so, manually or with filtering rules. But a discussion that starts out about a network admin job opportunity at a local school district can easily fork in several directions to tell (and perhaps inform) potential job applicants about New Hampshire's means of funding school districts, defining adequate educations, the costs of living in NH, and NH's regressive property taxes. I would prefer to let the discussion start and die a natural death all in one thread, even though the messages will be likely Off-Topic after a while, and I rely on the self-policing of the forum members to flag it so. Yes, this is a foolish and optimistic hope, as folks will need to be reminded, perhaps too often, of what it means to be On and Off-Topic, as we each have our own definitions and levels of tolerance.
I will try not to participate in these discussions, if my willpower can resist hitting the 'Reply' button. I hope to work with many of you in a professional capacity, and discussions of politics, religion, sex, drugs and rock 'n roll can sometimes interfere in those relationships. My political knowledge may not be particularly sophisticated nor well-informed, but I try my best. My opinions and leanings are sometimes far (left) out of the mainstream and while I might be glad to kick them around anytime over a beer, I don't believe a computer technology forum, with all the attendant misunderstanding engendered by ASCII communications, is the right way to discuss these matters. So, please don't think me rude if I ignore these discussions, nor think me uninterested. I care passionately about these issues, but don't feel the forum is appropriate.
However, this is often the only networking channel many folks have, and I don't mind the occasional digressions about "how 'bout them Sox?' or 'looking for a job' or 'anyone want to buy an old snowmobile,' as long as the level of chatter doesn't exceed the level of information. Besides, once you start to filter, the slippery slope is steep: ham radio is not off topic to some, but irrelevant to others. Free software on non-free platforms may be impure to some.
Besides, it never hurts to get to know a little more about your colleagues, even if it is just who to avoid <s>.
Another forum I belong to has actually created two email feeds, one of which explicitly filters out [OT] posts. Some like political debate, apparently, and 33,000 of the 51,000 messages posted to the list last year were OT. Luckily, I only read the other 18,000.
Live and let live. OT. Free speech and free beer.
Ted Roche Ted Roche & Associates, LLC http://www.tedroche.com
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