kwe@buit13.bu.edu (Kent England) (09/14/90)
Back in the old days before the Internet was commercialized :-), there was a custom of not posting articles of purely commercial value on Internet mailing lists (and many Usenet newsgroups), because the Internet was overwhelmingly a subsidized research network. Posters would take pains, in answering requests for "something that does X", to at least mention their competitors' products before giving their advice on how to use their own commercial product. It seemed like a nice touch that made the intent of the posting seem more informational than commercial. Those people (and I am thinking about one in particular) still post articles of noteworthy breadth and brevity, and those postings make me respect their own products the more. Perhaps there are as many of the old-style informational postings as there ever were, but there are many more posters who don't bother these days, so it seems as if there is less informational content overall, in my opinion. I miss those old fashioned postings. Purely commercial blather I can get elsewhere. From the Internet, I expect better. Would it be so much trouble to put a little more information, a little more survey, and a little less marketing boilerplate in your public offerings to this and other lists/newsgroups? Really, I think it would help you more than not, in terms of public perception. Thank you for your support. --Kent