thelinuxlink.net

It seems there's a fair amount of off-topic discussions/debates in the TechShow forum. Maybe we need an area where debates can go in any direction.

I am in favor of an 'Anything goes' section on the forum as long as it doesn't get out of hand and spill over into the other forum. I know of a couple of other forums that I used to post to, where bad feelings from the 'off topic' forums spill into comments in the main forum. This just makes more work for the mods. We have a pretty good group, so I don't see that happening though.

Other than that I'm cool with it

I honestly think it's simpler and less troublesome to simply avoid outside topics and stick to Linux, which is what brought us together in the first place. Of course, I'm guilty of veering off into other topics myself, but I try to keep my head on straight.

The remarks on religion recently were a prime example of where things can get troublesome, since multiple responses sounded derogatory towards those who are of differing opinion, and I've never seen anything good come from such vaguely patronizing and condescending remarks.

It seems silly to me to try and limit what people want to discuss in the forum. If something veers off into a debate about theology, or politics, so be it. Why fight it. I hate to say it, but if you can't take the heat stay out of the kitchen. Nothing should be exempt from debate or criticism. Once the conversation ends up being strictly about Linux or technology, things get boring very quickly, IMO.

And last time I checked, the forum description said "Feel free to ask questions, provide feedback and criticism, or just ramble on about anything your little heart desires." I didn't know that meant feel free to ramble on about anything your little heart desires, as long as it doesn't offend the hosts of the show.

I appreciate the sentiment Wally, and I enjoy talking about a great many things, so long as the other person isn't combative and condescending, then their goal is not a sharing and honestly critiquing of ideas, but to puff up their own ego or to attempt the mental equivalent of bullying.

I wouldn't treat that forum description as though it's a long thought out philosophical credo, when it's probably just something that came to mind while filling out the phpBB forms where it asks for a description of the forum instead of leaving it blank. There's no reason to read that much into it.

In reading your post, I'm reminded of reading some sort of introduction to Robert's Rules of Order where the author or editor discusses his first experience with a meeting he held. He expected people to behave like adults, not interrupt, speak out of turn, or behave in an unruly way. Of course he was in for a rude awakening, because the simple fact of the matter is that people do not behave themselves, and it's even worse on the Internet where you don't even have to look the other person in the eye.

If you've ever been to a meeting without Robert's Rules of Order or something very similar in effect, you'll know exactly what the author is talking about. Or just check out various forums. I remember one thread on the Gentoo forum topic called How I use prelinking (nVidia included), and the topic eventually became yet another example of Godwin's Law.

Of course you'll also never see a debate on TV or at any school without a moderator. You simply can't count on people to behave with civility and respect for one another, so if you want to have a pleasant forum where people actually want to visit and contribute, and not have discussions descend into mudslinging, you have to exert some moderation on the forum and stop things before they get out of hand.

And I agree, of course we need to have some moderating. But as far as topics go, I think anything should go, whether it be Linux-related or not. If you don't want to participate in a discussion about something off-topic, don't respond to the thread. No one is forcing anyone to engage in debate here.

I would enjoy that, but don't want to increase the burden of moderation on this board, and typically if I want to discuss these topics I do so on other boards.

The whole point of an "anything goes" forum is that it would be minimally moderated. The only thing I could see us deleting would be spam and anything condoning illegal activity. That's about it.

I'm not going to cast a vote for this as I moderate and run the forum so I'm leaving it up to everyone else.

On one hand I like the idea; but I do have concerns this may cause hard feelings and anger people. To that end, again, like all other forums, it's strictly on a voluntary basis if you want to subject yourself to what is on the forum.

I have no problem setting one up as long as stuff in there does not bleed into here and there are no personal attacks on people.

Vogateer wrote:I honestly think it's simpler and less troublesome to simply avoid outside topics and stick to Linux, which is what brought us together in the first place. Of course, I'm guilty of veering off into other topics myself, but I try to keep my head on straight.

That's pretty much what I was going to say. I'd prefer to stay on topic, but if people insist on talking about whatever, it would be nice to have another forum to contain it.

Good point. I do hope emotions don't run too high, and everyone can stay on good terms and be at least a little respectful of others.

Quick note:
Only moderators can view topics in the Anything Goes forum at the moment.