Richards, Robert B. wrote:
I was about to reply to the points you made and realized we have a
fundamental disagreement about the nature and tone of Timothy's posts. I
have *never* thought that his posts contained "border line" material.
Not even close.
Bob, you're missing my point entirely...
When George Fogg said he was confused by Tim's post, and wondered if
advertising was now allowed on IBM-MAIN, he was not alone. You responded
to him saying that you didn't consider it advertising. That's fine. I'm
not arguing with you.
My questions are *far* more general in nature. Rather than focus on one
post or one person, I'm trying to ascertain what's now considered
appropriate material for IBM-MAIN in the absence of the strong (and
sometimes dictatorial) leadership provided by Darren Evans-Young.
I have asked what I thought were simple questions. But, nobody seems
capable of providing the answers. (You just keep focusing on Tim
Sipples. I don't even read his posts. But, I do read yours -- which is
how I got into this discussion in the first place. So please try to take
a step back and look at the bigger picture here.)
Are there guidelines for use of IBM-MAIN? A charter? Canons of Conduct?
I haven't found anything specific. Yet, it seems that somehow 5,000+
subscribers knew that Darren was the focal point for sanctioning job
postings and announcement material. He even personally forwarded Candle
Omegamon product announcements to the list in 2002. For example:
http://bama.ua.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0210&L=ibm-main-archives&P=R104091&I=1&X=-
This generates even more questions. How did people come to consider
Darren the final authority on the acceptability of material posted to
IBM-MAIN? Perhaps the "regulars" knew through constant contact with the
list. But, how did occasional readers or people new to the list know?
Has IBM-MAIN ever been a moderated list? (Not that I recall. AFAIK, once
something is posted, it can't be un-posted.) What's to stop someone from
posting pornography?
In http://bama.ua.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0107&L=IBM-MAIN-ARCHIVES&P=R97246
(July 2001) Darren says:
|I have tried to let the list run itself, but obviously this is not
|working. I'm working on putting together the list rules. You will
|be receiving warnings from me for violating those rules. Repeated
|violations will result in being set to REVIEW or unsubscribed.
I've looked. But, I can't find where Darren ever communicated his "list
of rules" to the IBM-MAIN participants. Has anyone ever seen these
rules? What sorts of things to they cover?
Without Darren's oversight, what will the future hold? Will IBM-MAIN
just be in "free fall" from this point forward? Or, will a new moderator
/ list-owner take over? Inquiring minds want to know...
--
Edward E Jaffe
Phoenix Software International, Inc
5200 W Century Blvd, Suite 800
Los Angeles, CA 90045
310-338-0400 x318
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.phoenixsoftware.com/
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