[ale] as promised/threatened, an overly long post with probably nothing of real importance

[Brian Stanaland]

I signed up for this list when I moved to Atlanta in 1998. If you go
back far enough I've even answered a few questions here and there.
Lately I've noticed a lot of geek-politic talk but it was about
linux... Ubuntu's Unity being the latest. It seems like lately though,
that even the technical stuff turns into an argument. I don't think
I've read past the first 4 responses to any post in months. We've gone
through phases like this before. Several times I set up filters to
trash posts with key words. I even had OT posts going to a separate
folder. Maybe if I still had that in place I'd feel different now.

>From a technical perspective, I used to learn something every week
that helped in my job. There are still posts that are pertinent and/or
interesting to me; the ssh/config thread was very cool, for example.
But I'm not sure I get enough out of the list technically to put up
with the politics, flame wars, GUI battles, what have you any more.

I think the biggest reason I'm still on the list is comfort. I've
never been part of any group as long as I've been part of ALE. I lived
and worked way down on the south side (Newnan) so going to meetings
was out of the question. But it still felt like family. I suppose that
we, like all families, have grown apart. Seeing the list has gone from
over 1100 to less than 400 bears that out.

Jim, I think you did the right thing setting the moderator bit. Hell,
I didn't even notice until tonight. But it was a wake up call to all
of us. Thank you for the job you've done. If you decide to stay I hope
it's not out of a sense of obligation. If you step down I hope feel
like you've done good work here.

--Brian

-- 
"The trouble with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if
they're genuine."
   — Abraham Lincoln