[Thinkpad] Appeal to ask non-Thinkpad questions elsewhere

Once again, the list seems to be getting cluttered with questions that are
not directly ThinkPad-related (general questions about Windows, browsers,
etc.), and I wonder if there's any hope that non-ThinkPad related questions
could be taken to places where knowledgeable answers are more likely to be
found.

For example, for Windows, a zillion good answers are available here:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/newsgroups/reader.mspx?dg=microsoft.public.windowsxp.general&lang=en&cr=US

(that's all one line) with a zillion highly-focused forums listed on the
left side of the window.

For Adobe-related questions, the *really* knowledgeable people answer
questions here:

http://www.adobe.com/support/forums/main.html

For Firefox, there's an absolutely terrific forum here:

http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewforum.php?f=38

At least one person (who wants to remain anonymous) told me that he stopped
subscribing to this list because the digests were so cluttered with
non-ThinkPad related issues. That was a person who used to provide helpful,
knowledgeable answers to ThinkPad questions - and those answers won't be
available because the many irrelevant messages drove him away. (You can find
him at the new forum at www.thinkpads.com, however, where the message boards
tend to be highly focused on ThinkPad issues.)

Sadly, this request probably won't have any effect (it's an issue that has
come up more than once over the years), but I hope that anyone who regularly
asks non-ThinkPad related questions here might take a moment to look into
their consciences and ask themselves whether or not they're taking unfair
advantage of the many active members of this list who are here to exchange
information about ThinkPads.

Thanks - and end of rant. I'll be away for a couple of days, so won't be
able to reply to flames, etc.

Edward Mendelson

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Received on Sat Dec 18 13:40:18 2004