Re: Maarten suggests an OT list, as the PD list has. Setting up an OT list, for me, just seems like a concession to folks whose nettiquette would better benefit from a bit of self-restraint. My impression, backed up by a quick scan of the PD-OT archives, was always that the list was set up as a concession to a certain eNNtitity who will remain NNameless, so that all its spam and machine-gibberish poetry could go there instead of the main list, rather than simply force-unsubbing it. The eNNtity doesn't bother with it anymore, but it still looks a bit more like a catch-all for spam than a lively forum. There was a great thread on books there last month, but in general any of the worthwhile topics could have graced the PD list w/o any complaint. I have never seen a topic on the PD list which was recommended to be moved to the OT list. On the other hand, I *have* seen people directed to other lists when asking questions about Max/MSP or other OT software. I think any civilized user of a specialized, technical discussion list needs to know for themselves when something is OT. Then they should really question whether or not we NEED another 30+ postings on the given topic [be it feeding trolls, M$ spreadsheet compatibility or whatever] before continuing. If they really believe the group will be enlightened, they should still mark it [ot], as I have for this potentially unenlightening post ;-) my two eurocents, D. -- derek holzer ::: http://www.umatic.nl ---Oblique Strategy # 151: "Take away the important parts"
