Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site decwrl.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxb!mhuxn!mhuxm!mhuxj!houxm!vax135!petsd!pesnta!amdcad!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-erlang!falcone
From: falcone@erlang.DEC (JOE FALCONE, HLO2-3/N03, DTN 225-6059)
Newsgroups: net.followup
Subject: Re: Gary Perlman leaves the net in disgust
Message-ID: <501@decwrl.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 8-Feb-85 12:29:43 EST
Article-I.D.: decwrl.501
Posted: Fri Feb  8 12:29:43 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 10-Feb-85 06:41:49 EST
Sender: daemon@decwrl.UUCP
Organization: DEC Engineering Network
Lines: 43


I don't blame Gary for leaving the net in disgust.  I rarely
make submissions to the net, but when I do submit something
I get flamed at either in the newsgroup or via mail about 
half of the time.  One classic example is the use of automatic
flamers at several sites which archive net.sources - if they
don't like the submission (say if its a bug report out of place),
they send you a form-letter flame.  Sometimes they make this
judgment after reading only the subject line.  I've been a
part of the net since the very beginning (when I was hpvax!jrf)
and I find this flaming very disturbing.

There are just too many people on the net who view their fellow 
netters as Paths and not as Real People with Real Feelings which
can be hurt by sarcasm and ridicule.  All the talk about netiquette
and liability won't do any good if there are people out there who
feel that it is their God-given right to trample on other people's
feelings - this country is free, but no one is free to hurt people.
My heart goes out to Lauren and Gary and everyone else who gets more
than technical criticism on the net.  The net is a forum for
enlightened discussion, not personal abuse.

Unfortunately, the cooler heads did not prevail this time.
I suspect that Gary just received one too many saracstic notes
and rather than tolerate it he just shut news off.  This is
very, very sad.  I had one of the very first releases of
menunix a few years ago, and Gary did some very interesting
things.  Sure, I had to fix some bugs and rewrite some menu files,
but you get what you pay for, and free software is, after all, free.
Gary did not over-react; Gary did what I would have done.

If the flamers were getting on Gary's case for bugs in menunix,
I should remind the net that the latest release of netnews
software was not without bugs even though it had gone through
some testing.  Even the most organized efforts with alpha and
beta test sites produce software releases that have problems.

My word to those who use the net for personal attacks - Grow Up!

Joe Falcone			decvax!
Eastern Research Lab		decwrl!deccra!jrf
Digital Equipment		tardis!
Hudson, Mass.			root44!