> Joe, do you help *everyone* who asks for help?

When I can, yes. Honestly

> Considering your credential and the number of people whose
> requests you are not responding to, obviously you are "withholding"
> help

I don't consider I obviously do. I know my strengths, for example my
recent posts with h/w and s/w that I've used and know to work and
which are relevant to the OP

I know little about compilers, languages other than asm, electronic
theory, radio etc and replies from others cover those areas well. I
would certainly not barge in on those threads and offer "Google for
it, you lazy git" and generally try, as most people would tend to do,
to not to engage in discussions where I know my ignorance puts me
out of my depth

> My point is, if you enjoy the process more, you contribute more

Well, I do enjoy the list and contribute as much as I can. On the odd
occassion, in cahoots with a couple of other larrikins ("some bigger
boys made me do it"), I've submitted something which I should have
known would have Bob coming at me like a nun with a ruler, and I
got a deserved rap on the knuckles

I haven't ever had a proper argument or falling out with anyone on
the list. Some I know just aren't my cup of tea, just like in life, and I
avoid them when possible. Olin isn't included in that list by the way.
Personally he's OK

> The opposite is also true, my time is worth something to me

Well, everybody's time is worth something to them, and this is
volunteer work if you want to look at it that way. I'm sure everyone
fades in and out of all sorts of things as time permits

> and if the list policy makes it more difficult/less enjoyable for me to
> offer help, I will withold it in marginal cases where the satisfaction I
> get from helping someone is not worth the effort.

I don't exactly see what "policy" there is to prevent me offering or
asking for help. I've never felt that I'm under any restrictions, apart
from inflammatory personal comments like calling someone a liar,
or adding fuel to religious, political etc discussions

AFAICT there is no "policy" that I can't say simply and only "Have
you read the manual ?" or "What have you done to help yourself ?"

Do I need to say any more than that initially ? Do I really need to
say it in any other way ? "You come in here asking for a favour ...."
or "We're not helping you if you don't help yourself"

Despite some very tempting moments, I don't believe I've ever been
prodded quite enough to indulge in malicious name-calling. Even
confronted by the likes of a Jose S Samonte Jr (good grief, the name
is etched), who was a test of patience indeed, I still tried my very best
to maintain some decorum (publicly anyway). Others at the time were
quite openly suggesting that micros were not for him and eventually
I think that was proved correct and he wandered off. I don't recall
anyone actually calling him an idiot or a moron but the implications
were certainly there

My approach was, and usually is, to give them the benefit of the doubt
and see where it goes. If they argue, continually doubt the content of
help, or what they're being told simply won't sink in, then it's time to
move on from that person. One example was someone who got up
eveyone's noses and I, amongst others, told him offlist that if he does
that, people will just clam up. We all got an abusive email from him
so we clammed up. In that one case, yes, I/we did withhold help and
refused to answer anymore of his questions (which he carried on
posting like nothing had happened) and he was/is persona non grata

Personally, I really haven't noticed any changes in how the list is run,
as it affects me on a day-to-day basis. There were opposing points
of view back when James Newton was running it too

The current discussion has risen to the surface many times over the
years, but the rest of the threads, the vast majority of threads overall,
have hardly changed in demeanour

What I would like to see are figures showing historically how many
people have left **simply because** of the under-discussion issues.
If that's even possible

One or two have said they refrain from asking questions because they
fear the replies they might get. I don't understand that, as they have
been on this list long enough to know how to ask a question "properly"
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