Not all debate recently has been insulting, of course. In fact, most hasn't been. But the insulting tone persists in some of the thread titles, and in the generally adversarial nature. (If I were Marc A. or Kipp, I'd not feel very welcome here....a situation which is counterproductive to our presumed goals.) [...] II was quite surprised that they stayed that calm. MCOM's comming out on

Tim wrote: [...] the list was rather painfull. Glad to have them here, though. I always looked at the list as place to learn. Past mistakes nonwithstanding, they do seem to be willing to learn.

So, this is my little rant on "Can't we all just get along?" expressed in a different way.

There is nothing gained by flaming someone. Even if one thinks that they deserve it. Let's not alienate people that come to us to be educated. This would be self defeating.

The Cypherpunks list has become one of several de facto "watering holes" where diverse participants interact. Let's not blow it.

C'punks, when this list started we were a bunch of idealistic privacy freaks. Look who's on the list now: the developers of cutting edge Internet software. They came here because they heard our message. What did Amanda say? Something like "I come here because that's where the ideas are". We have the chance to influence the shape of the Net for years to come. The MCOM folks didn't go to the IETF meeting? Send them an invite for the next one. They never heard of ISIP? Send them a demo and docs. Let's show a "If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask us." attitude. -- Lucky Green <shamrock@netcom.com> PGP encrypted mail preferred.