On Wed, 27 Sep 2000, Alan S. Harrell wrote:
> As listowner of this list, that would certainly be your
> prerogative, but I would not allow this on my lists -- even
> if the product or service was topical to the list. In my
> opinion a discussion mailing list is for discussing issues
> topical to the list rather than to be a marketplace for our
> wares, be they related to the list topics or not.
We've had a discussion about on-list advertising once before...
That discussion may have been on another list. I was somewhat
surprised by all of the different policies other list admins have
for their lists. Some allow no ads at all. Some allow limited
on-topic ads. One person mentioned that she had an advertising
amnesty day. On-topic ads were allowed one day a month on her
list. I think one admin set up a daughter list specifically for
ads relating to the topic of the main list. There is no
universally accepted policy that is right for all lists and all
people. I allow limited on-topic ads on most of my lists.
Within reasonable limits, I don't mind seeing a modest number of
on-topic ads on most of the lists I subscribe to. I spend
perhaps an hour a day tracking down spammers in an effort to get
their accounts, web pages and mail boxes yanked. On the other
hand, I don't attack every ad that I see on a mailing list.
- murr -
