Re: Fed up with Eric's Rules

[Elna Tymes <etymes -at- LTS -dot- COM>]

Mark -

You're welcome to form whatever kind of list you want - it's been done a number
of times before, and usually in specific reaction to somebody's perception of
unfairness on this board - but that doesn't mean you'll undermine the
effectiveness of techwr-l.  There is one such list marginally alive right now -
and the most active thread of late on that board has been how to buy a house.

One of the realities of a moderated list is that the list becomes the 'sandbox'
of the moderator - if you want to play in his sandbox, you play by his rules.
If you don't like the rules, you don't have to play in that sandbox.  And in
fact you're free to go build your own sandbox and invite people to come play
with you.  Which, in a sense, is what you've done.

HOWEVER, don't assume that because you and a few others don't like Eric's
sandbox, it is therefore the bane of the technical communications community,
and that most others feel as you do.  And please don't assume that, because
you're tired of someone else's rules, you can therefore call them "fascist
rules." They're not. They're simply one person's attempt to create a fair and
interesting environment.  Fascism has some very specific definitions and a
whole lot of negative connotations, and it's immature to puff up your own
dissatisfaction into wholesale condemnation.

Whether you agree with Eric or not, if you've never been the target of a
barrage of nasty criticism by a person of questionable emotional stability you
have no idea what harassment can be like.  Eric has a right to define what, as
listowner, he'll put up with and what he won't.  I, for one, am grateful that
he's stepped up to the plate on this one.

If you love off-color, sexist, racist, or other forms of offensive banter,
there are LOTS of places on the 'net currently available to you.  I'd rather
not read comments like that on this board.  That doesn't mean I dislike
disagreement - as should have been really, really obvious from my previous
posts.  I just don't like disagreement when it comes cloaked in the language of
a bigot.

Technical communication comes in a lot of forms, including posts to boards like
this one.  I've found answers to technical problems here, I've hired some
people who posted here, I've participated in a number of discussions of how one
handles various process issues related to technical communications, and because
of the value I get from reading it, I continue to spend the most precious thing
I have - my time - reading it daily.  Partly because of my postings here I've
now been asked to serve on various boards of professional technical
communications schools.  I've also reaffirmed that expressions of bigotry have
no place in technical communications of any sort - this board included.

So to the Mike Nichols of the world - Godspeed.  There are plenty of other
places on the 'net where bigotry masquerades as freedom of speech.  I'm just
grateful it's not here.

Elna Tymes
Los Trancos Systems

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