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

[Derek Atkins]

Jim,

Jim Kinney <jim.kinney at gmail.com> writes:

> However, the aspect that concerns me the most is NO ONE COMPLAINED THAT I
> ALONE SHUT DOWN THE LIST. I made a unilateral decision and EVERYONE on this
> list just shrugged like sheep and went along. I got emails asking me to not
> bail out but if I was going to they would step up. But not a single email
> complaining that I took away their freedoms on this list. I expected 20-30
> emails within minutes of the announcement of my action. That it never came has
> indicated this is no longer the ALE from my memories but it is something
> strange and far less satisfying.

I didn't complain for two reasons:

1) I didn't notice right away -- I tend to only reply to emails in the
morning, generally.  I did find it strange that my reply to Sean (which
I thought was a personal reply but apparently went to the list) came
back with a moderation message.  I took that to be my fault; I thought
maybe I sent the message with the wrong From address, one that wasn't
subscribed.

2) Like a number of others, I am very liberal in my use of the 'D' key,
so I've pretty much been ignoring the recent threads, but they have most
certainly been overtaking Linux (or beer) discussion on this list.

I joined this list last year when I moved here from Boston.  I'm still
subscribed to the Boston Linux Users list.  Frankly, the lists are night
and day; the BLU list is almost all technical, whereas Ale is almost
all non-geek talk.  Honestly, when I'm looking for technical answers to
general questions I still ask them on BLU.  I use Ale for geolocated
geek questions (like looking for screws, or where to buy things, or
local service providers).

I've not yet made it to a meeting; I was hoping to make it this month.
I still plan to attend.

I for one would encourage self-censorship.  But sometimes I think the
use of a clue-by-four can be warranted.  The moderation bit was, IMHO, a
valid use of that clue-by-four.  It's like a judge banging the gavel and
shouting "Order, Order" to gain people's attention.  Jim, you got our
attention.  Is it wrong for the judge to bang the gavel?  If so, why is
it wrong for you to try to gain the attention of the masses here?  So
long as the moderation bit gets turned off again, I consider it a
judicious use of the technology.

As others have stated, we could certainly create new lists, or move
discussion to other places.  Personally I'd ask that we try to limit
off-topic discussion.  But of course self-censorship only goes so far.

Anyways, Jim, the choice is of course yours.  You have to be able to
live with yourself and your actions.  I, however, think you did fine.

-derek
-- 
       Derek Atkins, SB '93 MIT EE, SM '95 MIT Media Laboratory
       Member, MIT Student Information Processing Board  (SIPB)
       URL: http://web.mit.edu/warlord/    PP-ASEL-IA     N1NWH
       warlord at MIT.EDU                        PGP key available