You know with all the discussions I've had with some of you great people
over the current state of affairs, I was going to pose this question to this
list  yesterday  - that is, would you all prefer that for those of us
interested take it off list and continue the discussion?

Before I could pose the question last night I got a rather rude email off
list  from an individual  (unsigned of course) asking me cease my
discussions of anything not HP3000 related. I would suspect that this same
individual has contacted others here...

The reason I am mentioning this to the list, I belong to another list
comprised of many people (3000) who are bright and with similar eclectic
interests. While it is a Mercedes-Benz list (in fact 1-2 of you belong to it
also) - the list administrators encourage off topic discussion. This list is
perhaps unique in that many of the members have sponsored "get togethers"
for members who previously only knew each other via email.

I started a get together 2 years ago to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and we had
about 25 people show up from California to North Carolina and New Jersey.
For people to drive 2-3 days to meet others they only knew on the Net would
certainly say something about the friendships created...

There's only been a couple of occasions where the list admins there have
told people to "cool it" and change the discussions. One issue is gun
control - which tends to get people on both sides emotional - and the other
was a similar thread to what is/was going on. What is interesting is that of
the 2 founders one tends to be more to the left while the other towards the
right but they both encourage respectful free flowing discussion about
almost anything - and I mean everything - respectful is the keyword.
Profanity, "flaming" et al will get you an instant boot off the list. And I
would say that over its 5 year existence they have kicked off 10 people. It
is a closed list with a backlog of people waiting to get on (when Richard
has the time) .

For the most part people there will state their views respectfully and
listen to the others - one, who referred to another by a name (not profane
but disrespectfully) was kicked off the list for refusing to apologize. If
any of you have a Mercedes or are interested - see www.mercedeslist.com - we
even have people who have sold their Mercedes but like the list so much they
stay on...

There is such a wealth of talent on this (HP 3000) list that I would hate
for it to disappear - but OTOH I'd think just constantly talking about
HP3000s 24/7 would make the list a bit stale. But despite my recent
voluminous posts of the last few days, I know that sometimes all the off
topic stuff can bore/irritate others not interested. I've always felt that's
what the delete key is for, but at least 1 doesn't feel the same way...

So, I am simply seeking the guidance of you esteemed listers - how much off
topic discussions to you like?

Bill

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