Please do not post further comments on this subject to the mailing list,
myself or others that you feel are abusing this list. I have taken the
time to address this issue, in collaboration with one of the mailing
list maintainers, and I now feel the subject should be closed.
That said, here is the summary of responses (not quotations), in no
particular order:
Responder #1: Thankyou for raising the issue. I'm fed up with the
abuse too.
Responder #2: I apologise if you were refering to me, but I don't
think I'm in the wrong. I don't have access to more general newsgroups
and so consider periphery topics acceptable.
Responder #3: Good for you. I'm fed up too.
Responder #4: Generally I agree with you. Most people administer a
variety of machines and so shouldn't object. Your response to offenders
should be education, not rebuke.
Responder #5: Thankyou for raising the issue. In future please reply
direct to offenders, not the list.
Responder #6: Yes, there is abuse. I'm fed up too.
Responder #7: Thankyou for raising the issue. I'm fed up with the
abuse too.
Responder #8: I'm sorry for abusing the list. Please don't send me
any more hate mail. I've unsubscribed.
Responder #9: [Translated] I don't agree with your point. Members of
this list should be more tolerant of trivial questions. We all had to
start somewhere.
Responder #10: I'm not happy with the list at the moment and am
considering unsubscribing.
Mailing list maintainer's responses:
Your figure of 40/50 trash messages is an exageration.
Not everyone leaves because they are fed up. They sometimes leave
because they have other things to do and don't have time for the list
anymore. SUN personnel sometimes leave because their contractual
agreement forbids them giving away free advice for which their company
charges.
A better policy to adopt would be to point people to other resources,
rather than simply rebuke them.
Though the list isn't designed for periphery questions, they should be
tolerated.
A FAQ and a mailing list policy are sent to everyone on subscription.
We don't have time to moderate this list. If people don't read the
FAQ/policy, what are we to do? Suggestions welcome.
APOLOGIES:
I am sorry for exaggerating my claim of how many off topic messages I
receive from this mailing list. The figure is about 10/15 per day, not
40/50.
I am sorry for rebuking what I saw as abusers of this list and I am also
very sorry if hate mail has been generated as a direct result of my
comments. No-one deserves hate mail, for anything.
I am sorry for portraying an image of intollerance to inexperience. I
am not intollerant, and would seek to help anyone who asked me for help.
FUTURE PLAN:
I will in future respond to contributers direct, not to the list, and
will endeavour to provide the people concerned with directions to other
information sources, rather than requesting that they desist asking
questions in this forum.
FINAL COMMENT:
If the general opinion is that potentially off topic messages are
acceptable then the policy of this mailing list should be changed.
Please can I urge all potential contributers to think about their
submissions before they post them.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : Fri Sep 28 2001 - 23:11:58 CDT