David Kovar writes:
This list is allowing itself to be disrupted. More effort is being expended by its members complaining and commenting about LD than he is expending. Ignore the guy and get on with life.
It's worth noting that the perceived problem with Lance Detweiler is a problem that sooner or later surfaces in all forums, whether they're mailing lists or newsgroups--namely, the problem of a certain person or subject matter driving people away from the forum. Fleeing the problem doesn't fix it. It recurs wherever you go. Solving the problem in a top-down way (e.g., by banning a person from a forum) doesn't fix it, and that kind of centralized-censorship solution runs counter to the dynamic of the Net, which is not structured to support centralized censorship. (Theoretically, mailing lists are structured that way, but in practice anything but the most light-handed moderation tends to kill the spontaneity of discussions.) The best solutions are bottom-up solutions: solutions in which individuals can make choices about what they wish to see, but can't impose those choices on others. These solutions take many forms. The least sophisticated, and the least effective, is to unsubscribe from a "noisy" list--as I noted before, the problem recurs on all forums. A better solution is to ignore the noisy postings--this is the Detweiler Pledge Solution. Still better is the artful use of mail filters. (A nonartful use of filters may prevent some people from reading this message, since it includes the string "detweiler.") It strikes me as relatively on-topic for cypherpunks to discuss technical solutions, such as mail filters, for solving the "noisy forum problem." For some, adequate solutions may already be in place. But I note that for "mere users" (as distinct from sophisticated users and programmers), current filtering tools are difficult to use. What can make this better? --Mike Mike Godwin, (202) 347-5400 |"And walk among long dappled grass, mnemonic@eff.org | And pluck till time and times are done Electronic Frontier | The silver apples of the moon, Foundation | The golden apples of the sun."