[plug] [OT] Rant: plug at plug postings

[Craig Ringer]

>>I have noticed that people on this list often post
>>help for their commercial enterprise and I was wondering if this is
>>standard practice on this list. Other lists I am on can get quite
>>indignant at some questions whilst on this list, nobody says anything
>>and sometimes even helps!

OK. So what if someone is asking for help about stuff they intend to use 
at work sometimes. I'm guilty of that, if guilt were required - 
something I'm not convinced of. I also, due to my particpation in PLUG, 
help answer other's questions when I can do so usefully, and only expect 
a similar courtesy in return.
Work, home, or hobby isn't so important as far as I'm concerned - the 
list is about linux, and we're all users to some extent or another. Or 
is there an "anticommercial" clause in the PLUG charter I missed? Now, 
if someone posted all the time with "how do I do X", got indignant when 
they didn't get replies, and never tried to otherwise participate or 
help, then that'd be a problem. But I haven't seen anybody like that so far.

> Now, I don't think there's anything wrong with the behaviour described
> in that question. Gosh, I don't even mind off-topic posts. BUT, some of
> the questions on this list seem to push the line. I mean, the behaviour
> of two particular people feels (to me) like this:
> 
>  - They sit at work, reading the documentation for some software that
>    they currently use or that they have been alerted to.
>  - Upon finding their needs clearly documented, they then post a message
>    to this list (from their work mail addresses) asking a question whose
>    most likely answer is a reference back to that exact documentation
>    and product.
>  - We fall for it, hook, line, and sinker.

As it happens, my work email address is my only email address. It stays 
constant over the years, as I change ISPs etc. Its much easier than 
running a local mailserver at home, esp with the lovely reliability 
(not!) of the ADSL network. I acccess work's IMAP and SMTP server from 
home via an ssh tunnel. So what? Does the From: address represent a 
statement of what my purpose is? Or is it just an address, that happens 
to tell you that I work for the POST Newspapers, but that's it? Am I not 
allowed to have linux as a hobby too because I don't have another email 
address?

I'm not sure exactly what you're saying above James. If somebody reads 
the documentation and just can't figure out what is going on, isn't it 
perfectly fair to post to PLUG asking for help? Isn't that what we all 
do sometimes? What is there to "fall for ..., hook line and sinker"?

Sorry if this message is overly irate, but there were some real 
hot-button items here. I thought it best to see if somebody cares to 
explain exactly what I'm missing.

Craig Ringer