> I've watch various electronic forums spin totally out of control because
> of a libertarian attitude towards assholes, or other disruptive sorts.
> This is a moderated list, not a constitutional democracy.
Doug is a very fair and even-handed moderator. We should all thank him for the work he does in keeping this list soooo awesome.
I was booted from a librarian list two weeks ago for using the f-bomb, after I had posted some thoughts about Wikipedia and copyright. The real reason why I was removed was because I had evidently been banned from the list for life back in 1999.
Yes, six years ago.
I had rejoined the list in February 2004 and I only became a problem after I uttered some radical opinions. I had remembered getting booted from the list in 1999, but didn't recall a lifetime ban, which is totally silly given what happened in 1999. My crime in 1999 was basically engaging in a flame war against a right wing advocate of filtering in libraries. The geek librarian crowd doesn't like to talk about the social implication of technology, they just want to learn how to make the tech work. They got tired of the flame war and voila, I was booted.
And filtering in libraries works very well these days.
Chuck