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!