[ILUG] Funny emails

[Gareth Eason]

Les Davis wrote:
> I'm just wondering is it bad manners on a mailing list like this to post
> a funny email. This one is very relevant to the type of discussions
> posted on this mailing list.
> Les
> 

	Ah! Now you've gone and done it.

	Basically, you may, of course, post humourous material (and are 
encouraged to do so) provided it's vaguely on topic - or very amusing - 
or so off topic that it's on topic... (copyright restrictions 
notwithstanding etc.)

	No matter what you post, it will be greeted in the spirit in which it 
was intended by some of the list members, others will pedant it, yet 
more will point out that it's off topic - even more will say that 
_actually_ there is some tenuous link to a topic that they found, some 
others will undoubtedly say that you are just wrong (probably through 
the medium of writing a 4 page essay on why it is that you are wrong, 
without ever actually explaining it in a cogent, meaningful fashion) - 
AND if you're very VERY lucky, the people who thing that your material 
is appropriate, the people who disagree with these people, and the 
people who are just going to post nonsense to the effect that you are 
fundamentally wrong for their own reason du jour will all continually 
post herer until everyone gets annoyed, your original posting is lost in 
the noise of a thread of doom arguing whether your post is or is not 
appropriate and whether, in fact, you should be deemed qualified to 
actually send a mail to some of the more sensitive members of the list 
at all in the first place...

	Now, the pure comedy of the situation starts when you realise that by 
merrely posting the mail you did, it's likely that a thread of doom(tm) 
will be started with half the people saying 'yes - post away', the other 
half saying 'no - it's not appropriate' and the third half saying you 
should have just posted the comedy and not bothered wasting space in 
their inboxes by asking if it was appropriate to post at all. This 
conclusively proves two things:
	1) The ILUG list is incapable of reaching a coherent decision, on anything.
	2) Euclidean Geometry does not apply to this list (or I'm bad with 
fractions, you pick)

	In summary, thank you for asking - the very fact that you are polite 
enough to do so likely implies that you have some concept of netiquette 
- so please join us. Ignore the detractors and the pedants, bring us 
some comedy as and when appropriate, and enjoy the free-flowing 
discussion that happens here on the ILUG list where I (for one) learn a 
new thing each and every day :-)

	Best regards,
	-->Gar

P.S. The funny e-mail had better be quite comedy after the build up 
you've given it ;-P