Re: Topic Nazis (OR Mystery: static variables & performance)

From: Dan Pop (Dan.Pop_at_cern.ch)
Date: 02/11/04 

Date: 11 Feb 2004 18:52:15 GMT

In <k2li20p7br382mmmdvng0lvk5sq1vmd884@4ax.com> Erik <et57 at correos calor dot com> writes:

>And there is no charter. So who determins which questions are
>off-topic ? the "regulars" you say.

What would be a technical newsgroup without its regulars? A next to
useless place, because you'd never have any a priori indication about
the quality of one answer or another. Since they are the most valuable
resource of a newsgroup, they also have the privilege to decide the
"moderation policy".

>A problem with the internet is one of identity. We do not know the
>regulars, never seen them, never heard them, never met them.
>I have great difficulty in trusting unseen people on the net.

When choosing technical books, do you select *only* the ones whose
authors you know personally (have met, seen, spoken to)? Why would be
the Internet any different?

>Especially trusting them with any power to decide...etc.

You don't have to trust them with that power, it is a power they
acquired themselves, based on their own merits. If you don't like the
job they do, find another newsgroup or create one of your own.

>(for that, there are the moderated groups. One can ban all one likes
>in a mod. group. No problem with that)
>No white-robed high-priests for me, thank you.

They exist and exert their power, whether you like it or not.

>My rule of thumb is: only trust if you have to. Or, As Ronnie Reagan
>once said about the russians: trust but verify.
>And I cannot verify on the net.

That's your problem. On the net, the credentials of each individual
are his posts and they are available to anyone interested.

>There is no charter. So don't bark at people who decide by the name of
>the news group: comp.lang.c: the C computer language. full stop.

OK, so you're now trying to act as a super-high-priest, imposing to the
high-priests what (not) to do. Why would they bother to listen to you?

The Usenet rules have been cast in concrete long ago: the newcomer *must*
lurk for a while, in order to figure out what the newsgroup is about,
rather than act based on *assumptions* derived from the newsgroup's name.
In the process, he'll also figure out who are the newsgroup's regulars
that are worth paying attention to and who is/are the village idiot(s).

You have as many chances to change the Usenet rules as you have to impose
your will to the newsgroup's regulars. In other words, you're wasting
your time.

Dan 

-- 
Dan Pop
DESY Zeuthen, RZ group
Email: Dan.Pop@ifh.de

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