On Sat, 31 May 2008 23:27:35 -0700, szr <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
[...]
But the subthread Lew commente don was about Perl and Unix. That is
clearly off topic.
I agree with and understand what you are saying in general, but still,
isn't it possible that were are people in the java group (and others)
who might of been following the thread, only to discover (probably not
right away) that someone decided to remove the group they were reading
the thread from? I know I would not like that, even if it wasn't on
topic at the branch.
All due respect, I don't really care if those people find the thread
gone. And no one should.
Each individual person has a wide variety of interests. A thread that is
off-topic in a newsgroup may in fact be concerning a topic of interest for
someone who just happened to be reading that newsgroup. The fact that
that person might have been interested in it isn't justification for
continuing the thread in that newsgroup. The most important question
isn't who might have been reading the thread, but rather whether the
thread is on-topic.
What if someone cross-posted a thread about motorcycle racing in the Perl
newsgroup as well as an actual motorcycle racing newsgroup? No doubt, at
least some people reading the Perl newsgroup have an interest in
motorcycle racing. They may in fact be racers themselves. Those people
may have found the thread about motorcycle racing interesting.
Does that justify the thread continuing to be cross-posted to the Perl
newsgroup? No, of course not.
So please. Quit trying to justify a thread being cross-posted to a
newsgroup that you aren't even reading just on the sole basis of the
remote possibility that someone in that newsgroup was interested in the
thread. It's not a legitimate justification, and even if it were, there's
been sufficient opportunity for someone here in the Java newsgroup to
speak up and say "hey, wait! I was reading that!"
But no one's said anything of the sort. Those people who don't exist have
no need for you to provide an irrelevant defense for them.
Personally, I find it very annoying to have to switch news groups in
order to resume a thread and weed my way down the thread to where it
left off before it was cut off from the previous group.
If people use the newsgroups responsibly, that never happens.
A thread should never be cut-off midstream like that unless it was
inappropriately cross-posted in the first place, and if the thread was
inappropriately cross-posted in the first place, no one has any business
expecting to be able to continue reading it in any newsgroup where it's
off-topic.
If you're interested in discussions on Perl and Unix, go read a newsgroup
about Perl and/or Unix. Don't look for those discussions in the Java
newsgroup, and don't get comfy reading the thread in the Java newsgroup
should you happen across it. They don't belong, and they should be
terminated within the Java newsgroup ASAP. Go follow the thread where
it's on-topic.
Pete
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