This list is constantly evolving, it has changed quite a bit in the time I have been on it. That makes for a dynamic lively list. Restricting those changes as written rules eventually makes for a dead list. Sure people come and go, but almost no one stays.
This list started as a Pentax USA list, their legal department advised them to get rid of it for liability reasons. Doug Brewer volunteer to take it over and run it as a list independent of Pentax. That happened very shortly after I began frequenting the list. So instead of a list where people talk about Pentax equipment it has evolved into a list where people who like Pentax equipment talk to each other. There is a really big difference in the two concepts.
All one really has to do is pay attention. No one seems to be posting about Ebay auctions, why is that? No one said anything until it became obvious that the person didn't have a clue. I can not think of any other list on the internet where that would have happened, most of them would have had 15 people jump down his throat with both combat boots the first time he did it. We kind of waited until it became clear he wasn't going to figure it out for himself. Other lists would have bounced him off immediately.
And by the way, most of the unwritten rules on this list have been arrived at by consensous, they were discussed and people generally agreed to abide by them. They were not just imposed by Doug or something. He only removes someone because of bouncing e-mail, or some other technical problem.
For what it is worth here are the unwanted topics in decreasing order of unanimity, as I remember them:
*Flame wars *Ebay listings, unless you are the seller. *Guns *Religion *Politics
Not a long list at all. Also, I think the major "no guns" person is no longer on the list. We liked him a lot therefore his desire held more weight than most; so guns should probably be at the bottom of the list now, or lumped into politics.
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[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
I belong to two unmoderated newsgroups that have extensive newbie FAQs and the urls are posted on a regular basis to the newsgroups (each has a volunteer that does that). Most people, if they know what the etiquette is -- etiquette that has evolved over time; etiquette that was never voted on and is not enforced -- will abide by it.
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--graywolf http://graywolfphoto.com
