Off topic messages (was Re: [wellylug] Earthquake)

[Ewen McNeill]

In message <0B91EEF1-84F1-11D8-8E56-000393417C0E at sitharus.com>, Phillip Hutchings writes:
>So... We're not allowed to give fellow Linux users first dibs on 
>equipment, but we are allowed to talk about earthquakes... Yep, this is 
>a normal LUG! :)

Talking about earthquakes is merely off topic, and I'm sure it'll stop
soon enough.

Advertising _always_[0] leads to more people thinking that advertising
is okay.  Which leads to more people posting adverts.  Which leads
to automatic postings.  And pretty soon discussion is impossible.
Advertising "killed" Usenet; advertising is well on its way towards
killing email.[1]  I'd rather it didn't kill the LUG discussion list.

IME the only defendable policy is "no advertising".[0]  Everything else
leads to endless whining "but they were allowed and my adverts not very
different".

There are also legal implications of advertising messages on a resource
hosted by my company which do not (really) exist for discussion about
earthquakes.

The LUG is of course welcome to move its mailing list somewhere else
that supports advertising, of even somewhere "advertising supported".
I'll even assist with transfering the message archives and user list.

But I won't be subscribing to such a list.

Ewen

[0] So says 15 years online.

[1] 2000+ spam messages per week -- thankfully mostly caught by my spam
    filters -- is at least equal in volume to all my personal and
    mailing list mail combined.  And yes, that's just an average week,
    perhaps a little lower on spam than normal.