vonn@entropy.ms.washington.edu (Vonn Marsch) (03/07/90)
Ladies and Gents, I've been following the Ivan Bach vs. The PostScript World discussion-cum- argument-cum-flamefest for the last couple of weeks and I have a couple of suggestions that may prevent this sort of thing from happening in the future (no flames, I turned my flamethrower into a pilot years ago) : First of all, splitting up the newsgroup is not the answer. The issues that originally fueled this argument ought to be of interest to anyone who has any involvement with PostScript or image transmition. Personally, I think PostScript is the best thing since paper money, but we should always be prepared for the possiblity that there might be a better way. If not, we'd still be using HP PCL (no offense to HP, at the time it was the right idea). To my understanding, USENET is not only for the simple exchange of techincal information, but for lively discussion and debate of topics relevent to each newsgroup. As for Mr. Bach, I am not in a position to judge his ideas on the subject. But I can say this: He did not deserve the responses received to his postings in this news group. Nobody, prophet nor madman nor idiot nor saint, should have be subjected to personal attacks mearly because someone, or everyone, disagrees with him/her. Mr. Bach was treated as a heretic. He responded emotionally, but that's how people respond to being treated in that manner. An otherwise interesting and informative discussion degenerated into the net equivelent of a fist fight, to the disservice of us all. Instead of trying to judge who threw the first punch (nobody likes an ad hoc net-referee :-) I just want to plead that no punches every be thrown for any reason. If someone is particularly annoying, take a deep breath and hit 'n'. Even if someone is a blithering idiot (Bach does not fit into this catagory!) there isn't justification to do anything more than quietly putting him/her into your own kill file. I know you all know this, but it's obvious some may need to be reminded. I, for one, welcome Mr. Bach's postings regarding the deficiencies of PostScript. I understand that consensus can be the enemy of truth. I'm not sold on it, but I think it ought to be discussed and considered. Vonn Marsch uunet.statsci.vonn (206) 322-8707