[OFB Cafe] ADMIN: A Note from Your List Administrator

[Timothy Butler]

Dear friends,
	It seems this list has become rather uncivil the past few days.  
Pretty much all three rules of the list have been violated, which is  
unfortunate. I am saddened by some of the things I've seen posted  
here, not because I happen to disagree with this or that, but because  
of the tone of the writers. I have the unique position, being the guy  
that had some tie to each of the three "streams" of lists that have  
converged to form Cafe, of knowing pretty much everyone on here to a  
greater or lesser extent for years. I've talked to some of you on the  
phone, had business dealing with some of you, moderated lists with a  
number of you and otherwise gotten to know pretty much all of you.  
While we all have our disagreements, some of them quite strong, I'd  
like to see us keep the following notes (from the official list  
welcome message) in mind. Hopefully returning to those can encourage  
us to enjoy hearty debate without drawing up enemy lines.

	Let me also remind everyone that some of the folks on here I know to  
be masters at the use of irony, sarcasm and other joys of the English  
language. I'd encourage all of us, myself included, to keep this in  
mind and therefore be willing to grant some slack if our initial  
impressions of a given message are rather negative. OK?

	I appreciate all of your cooperation in helping this list to grow and  
get past some of the initial discomfort of merging different  
communities. If we all stick with it, I think Cafe can easily become  
one of the best tech lists on the internet. It already is, in many  
senses, I think, if only because of the folks who are members.

	Please read on.

	-Tim

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Welcome to OFB Cafe -- thank you for joining us. Please take a moment  
to review this message of list rules before beginning your  
participation in the community. We look forward to hearing from you at  
the cafe!

1. OFB Cafe provides a forum to argue and discuss ideas -- not to wage  
personal attacks. Keeping discussions focused on ideas allows for the  
enjoyment and edification of the whole group. If you can't keep to  
ideas, move your discussion off-list.

2. Absolutely no discriminatory remarks based on age, race, sex,  
religion, etc. are allowed. Attempts to make claims against groups in  
such a way do not belong on this list and will not be tolerated.

3. The list moderators have as their *sole* purpose the civil  
operation of the list. Posts that detract from the civil atmosphere  
will result in the poster being moderated for a time to be determined  
by the moderators. This is not censorship. The internet is a very big  
place, and virtually any view may be expressed somewhere on it. But  
that doesn't mean that virtually any view may be expressed here. Those  
that are deemed inappropriate will be handled appropriately.


---
Timothy R. Butler | "Philosophy  always  requires  something  more,
Editor, OfB.biz   | requires the eternal,  the true, in contrast to
tbutler at ofb.biz   | which even the fullest existence as such is but
timothybutler.us  | a happy moment."
                                                -- Søren Kierkegaard