Forum behavior

[burkhard]

I agree with Eric on all his points. Many, many, forums and Newsgroups have survived for decades without much (if any) moderator involvement, locking of threads, or nuking whole threads. That's a bad trend, really, perhaps something that goes with the thin skin and a need for "safe spaces" without possible risk of offense the current generation seems to have developed.

On other forums/newsgroups/mailing lists I have been involved with, if somebody repeatedly acts like a jerk/imbecile, they get ignored and eventually go away. As Didier succinctly advises "Don't feed the troll". Only threads that are outright spam get deleted / posters blocked. Differences of opinion (even heated ones) stand as part of the record. I think that approach is far better than the heavy-handed moderating this forum seems to be increasingly developing.

There is a great line from the beginning of Virginian Patrick Henry's famous 1775 speech that I think is relevant here:
But different men often see the same subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen if, entertaining as I do opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve.

The recent thread on GPL was interesting to me, although heated in spots. I actually learned a lot and understood the passion on both sides. IMO, there was no reason to lock it down. Likewise, I'm not wild about the idea that somebody can get blocked because they annoy a small faction of members, despite how many others actually enjoy their posts immensely and find them really informative and thought-provoking. Lots of geniuses in history have been ornery, cantankerous, and occasionally a PITA to work with. We shouldn't censor or kick out people like this, certainly not on the basis of a handful of "black balls" from a slim minority of members.

burkhard out