At 19:37 11-3-02 -0500, Jon Gabriel wrote: ><<Now, I do think you are being a bit too harsh here. You do not get treated >differently from other people just because you are an AOL member.>> > >Baloney. I and other AOL users and/or HTML-encoded e-mail users have been >singled out _repeatedly_ online both on and offlist because of the >unchangeable nature of my AOL posts.
I do not see those comments as personal attacks, but as complaints about posts being in HTML. >In this case, Robert Chassel specifically wrote: <<Please, whoever is using >AOL: since you cannot use AOL email and also be frugal and readable at the >same time, either stop posting in a crude, expensive, and unpleasant manner >to the Brin list; or else write to and tell AOL that you are quitting them >because their software prevents you from being frugal and considerate. >Thank you.>> > >* What part of "stop posting to the list" seemed non-discriminatory to you? In that post, Robert did not ask you to stop posting to the list; he asked you to stop posting in a crude, expensive and unpleasant manner (IOW: stop sending posts that contain HTML). >* What part of telling me I am being "rude" and posting in a "crude" and >"unpleasant manner" do you think I, as an AOL user, shouldn't take >personally? IMHO, Robert was not calling you personally "rude, crude and unpleasant", he called posting in HTML "rude, crude and unpleasant". (IOW, he attacked the posting method, not the poster.) ><< I can understand that people complain about HTML postings, and they have >just as much right to complain about AOL and its stupid rules as AOL members >have a right to post her.>> > >Sure they do. But Robert was *not* complaining. He was *demanding* that I >"stop posting to the list" due to something I cannot change. I think what he wrote was meant as a complaint, not as a demand. I will admit that he could have phrased his comments better, though. But again, he did not ask/demand that you stop posting, he asked/demanded that you try to send your messages as plain text. >There is a difference. A complaint might have taken the form of "Your >e-mails are unreadable, is there nothing you can do to change your setting?" >The demand took the the form of "change your settings or stop posting, then >then quit AOL and write them a nasty letter." He was being rude and >presumptive and I said so. I do not believe he intended to come across as rude and presumptive. But if you feel offended, that is something the two of you will have to work out between yourselves. > >If the answer is YES, then please inform the entire list of this and > >**please** change the rules of etiquette to reflect my right to post. > ><<Speaking of "having rights": outside the US, Americans have a reputation >for being sue-happy and demanding that their rights are respected. Despite >that reputationm, has no AOL member ever bothered to say "hey, I have a >right to use whatever e-mail client I choose!" and subsequently sued AOL >for that? (Personally, I find it crazy that people let their ISP dictate to >them what software they can use.)>> > >Do I *really* need to repeat myself onlist to the holder of the great Brin-L >archive? Well, I do not have the entire Archive memorised, and I only do a search when I think it is necessary. Jeroen _________________________________________________________________________ Wonderful World of Brin-L Website: http://www.Brin-L.com Tom's Photo Gallery: http://tom.vanbaardwijk.com
