Darren Branagh wrote: >Occasionally we go off topic, and I admit there have been a few more off >topic emails lately than usual, but these are just as enjoyable as the on >topic ones IMHO.
<dons slightly less flame-proof suit than Norman Dunbar> I beg to disagree. Too many off-topic discussions are a pain in the b*t especially the depth to which off-topic subjects are discussed here sometimes. Personally I didn't mind some of the virus discussions here as I don't know much about these and my main platform is PC/QPC at the moment, so a PC virus infection would clobber my QLing. But certain subjects on this list do irritate me when they go off at tangents in depth and have nothing to do with the QL whatsoever. While I do think Peter reacted too hastily to the immediate situation, I can also see why he got irritated by all this. Once diversions go to a certain depth it's best to take such off-topics off list to discuss. >Theres so much more to it all than just the QL, thats just >the start of our common interests. I've often had brief interchanges on >this list about Music with Phoebus, Roy, and Tony, about the celtic ties >with Dilwyn and Norman, and also about the QL!! So What? Its through the >occasional OT email that you get to learn a bit about all those people that >make this list so interesting, and what makes 'em tick - and I value that. Occasional off-topic email yes, I agree with what you say there. But this list should be mostly QL-related discussion. While a brief correspondence like you suggested isn't objectionable to me, some of the deeper Linux-related stuff for example (unless directly relevant to Q40 Linux) isn't of any interest to me. I suppose that the trouble is that although some of us hate certain topics on this list, others hate different topics! Example: past Linux debates about internet access from Linux, CD Writing from Linux etc, I have no real interest in Linux but if I got a Q60 and wanted to do some things I can't do on a QL at the moment, Linux Q40 might give me the option to do these on what is the best QL platform at the moment. BUT - I'd end up in the same situation really, using Linux on the Q60 to do what I can't do from SMSQ/E, whereas at the moment the situation is similar where I use QPC and Windoze 95 for what I can't do in SMSQ/E. So...discussion on the relative merits of both becomes relevant to me. So it's hard to draw the line. It was obvious to me during the couple of issues where the QL-versus emulator debate went on in Toady that Peter's view was quite simple: we subscribe to Toady/ql-users/Quanta for QL info, there are plenty of sources of other subjects out there. Peter's viewpoint was a bit strong for me, but I do to some extent understand his viewpoint. >I may be a long younger than most of you, but I like to nostalgitise (is >that a word?) too!!! Not as young as you used to be ;-)) -- Dilwyn Jones [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.soft.net.uk/dj/index.html
