Personally I like a good back and forth, even if it's non directly code or question specific. Part of what I like about this list is the playful arguing that creeps into some of these discussions. But sometimes personalities clash a little (which I don't mind at all) and sometimes people get a little overzealous. There's a fine line between having a fun sarcastic argument and egging someone on who shouldn't be egged on. I know in this most recent thread I've been responsible for egging the dude on more than I should have, which led to post after post, which I didn't quite realize would happen.
But should the original post never have been posted? I don't know about that. I think a discussion about Adobe competing with developers is a decent one to have, and one that is appropriate for this list. The way the thread evolved (or in fact, the very way it started) made that discussion impossible. But that's not to say that this list shouldn't be used for those kinds of topics. This one certainly got out of hand, but so it goes sometimes. Tim, your attempt to try to end the thread as it devolved into ridiculousness didn't work, but I think we all sort of realized that we should just stop replying. I know that I've watched the past few messages on the topic stream through my inbox and have been itching to fire back ridiculous responses, but decided that it was best to just keep my mouth shut. These things work themselves out. So in the end we have some ranting threads every once in a while, but we also encourage lively discussions (many of which greatly benefit the community), and I prefer that rather than a strict business-only atmosphere. In the end I don't think there's much you can do (or should do), other than give some helpful reminders about keeping things on-topic like you've done. But if people ignore that they ignore that. And I don't have a problem just ignoring threads in my inbox, so I haven't yet found the amount of off-topic noise to be overwhelming. Doug On Thu, Aug 28, 2008 at 2:35 PM, Tim Hoff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi All, > > This is the text from the original FlexcodersFAQ.txt file: > > *1. What is Flexcoders?* > > *Flexcoders is a forum where developers can ask questions about Flex, > FlexBuilder, and Flex-related technologies (like Cairngorm and FlexUnit). > The community is made up of everyday Flex developers as well as Adobe > employees. However, this is not an official Adobe-sponsored forum, it is > moderated by the community. However the original moderators who are still > actively involved are folks from iteration::two, now members of Adobe > Consulting.* > > In light of some recent threads, that have clearly been personal comentary, > instead of flex-related technology questions, I thought that it might be > useful at this time to reinforce the spirit of this list, and to also ask > the list how others feel about personal rants posted here. Are there others > that feel that the number of off-topic threads has increased to the point > that it's getting out of hand and that the appropriate place for these type > of posts should be personal blogs; instead of this list? I realize that > this isn't a technology question in itself, but it seems that people are > hoping that by ignoring those that are abusing the list, that they will go > away. This doesn't appear to be the case. > > Thanks in advance for your responses, > -TH > >
