Rules and larfs.

From: Alex Ferguson <alex_at_dcs.gla.ac.uk>
Date: Thu, 16 Feb 95 20:30:31 GMT


Loren Miller breaks rule #2:
> Subject: Re: Glorantha Digest V1 #142

but makes up for it by quoting and agreeing with me. (Oops, rule #1? ;-)
> > A bit of
> > adherence to Rule 3, and its obvious Corollaries, would help a lot.

> Agreed. I'm a great fan of Rule 3, no surprise there, and was unhappy
> with AJ for breaking it wrt NB. Perhaps when the FAQL comes out
> [...] it will help forestall such grotesqueries in the future?

Well, I suppose we could throw in such sage advice as not flame(bait)ing other noble netters, or indeed an arbitrarily expanded set of Rules for the conduct of debate, but such questions are pretty much imponderable. How much thrashing out of a given topic is appropriate isn't just a function of the length of the thread and readers' interest in the topic, but also of such meta-issues as how discussion-oriented as opposed to hardware-driven the list "should" be.

Add in the question of the (perceived or actual) obnoxiousness of tone employed [*], and the usual thermal runaway of same, and you have a people management problem of consultancy-fee-busting proportions. One can merely enjoin, Obey the Golden Rule, unless you're a chronicly attention-seeking masochist, in which case pretend you aren't.

[*] A canonical list of infractions in this regard is in preparation, but due to size will be available only via ftp and total-garbage,-really precedence mail.

> Not? I can hope, can't I?

Probably not, indeed. But one can at least then crucify infractors with a greater sense of Justice.

> Is it just me or has Alex recently been teaching a comedy
> writing course using the subject matter of this list?

It's true that if I were a Malkioni, I'd be a Talorite. "What are you laughing at?" "Oh, just the pain and futility of the List."

Stay tuned for the upcoming:-

Humakti humour: "Owch. Now _that's_ what I call Comedic Closure." Why Zzabur's Blue Book was _really_ so-called. Jolanti slapstick: a Chalana Arroy self-help guide. Approved Dara Happan Risque' bumper jokebook. (One of the twenty-word   postings Joerg mentioned)

Alex.


Powered by hypermail