REPLY Re: Off-topic message confusion

[Jay West]

I have finally gotten around to reading this thread with interest and (some) 
amusement.

First - Sellam, I'm not dead yet :)

My view is quite simple. The cctech view of the list should be free of 
anything off-topic at all. Nothing but strictly on-topic posts. I think 
everyone agrees with that and there's pretty solid consensus on the list 
with regards to that one.

However cctalk by definition allows some wandering into off-topicness. Yet 
it is still a list for classic computers, not for extended discussion about 
cars or guns or politics (including exopolitics) or alien abduction or 
personal attacks or whatever. The occasional (short-lived) off-topic thread 
is fine. I think this allows it to be more of a community than cctech 
(definitely not meant to be a slam on cctech). So the deal is this: in 
return for me not killing off the cctalk list and just having 100% 
on-topicness, I reserve the right to squash threads and "correct" people who 
wander offtopic too long or too often, or who get antagonistic to others. 
That is quite a thankless job as you can't please everyone and some will 
think I'm being too strict and others will say I'm too loose. And as has 
been proven by several posts by specific people who shall remain nameless - 
sometimes I'm accused of both by the same person at the same time *GRIN*.

If I don't set some guidelines, people will be afraid to post a quip or 
hesitate before a pleasant off-topic post. Sometimes that's good. Most times 
it's not. So here's the guidelines I use:

Direct personal inflammatory attacks are never ok, period. If you want to 
slam someone in a cutting malicious fashion - take it to private email. We 
don't need to hear your beefs.

Political/religious inflamatory discussions are never ok either. This is 
hard for me because I'm quite into political discussion, but well, this 
isn't the place for it. This doesn't mean an occasional comment inside an 
on-topic thread can't say something mildly political. We just don't want to 
delve into a long political discussion, or more importantly, don't phrase it 
as a put-down to others.

I will say that some of the initial comments that generated this thread were 
definitely something I should have dev/null'd before it hit the list. 
Inappropriate. My bad for letting it go on.

Anything else off-topic - in moderation (no pun intended) is ok. Just not 
Sellams ass. Please.

Geeze kids... get along and play nice!

Jay