dealing with dictionary attacks

[Rick Chadderdon]

Res wrote:
> I'm not asking for any leeway, OT = OT, my point was made, that being
> some people seem to think some unrelated to MailScanner crud is OK,
> where other unrelated topics are not. 
I agree, Res.  OT=OT.  That said, I still don't think that OT posts are
a bad thing.  In fact, it's the OT posts that build a sense of
community.  Without this kind of discussion people with strong opinions
and a lot of attitude (like myself, maybe, or...  maybe someone else in
this discussion) become known for just their opinions and not for what
kind of person they are, what their background is, etc..  Without
off-topic discussions, nobody would know to tell me that you're a "nice
guy under the prickly surface", something which I already knew - from
reading the off-topic posts. (And obviously I don't post enough, because
if I did, Glenn would have known that I don't need to "chill out" - that
one certainly wasn't one of my "unchilled" posts.  :) )  I wouldn't know
that you're an old-timer like me.  We wouldn't know that English isn't
Glenn's native tongue.  (It's refreshing to know that native speakers
are still better at mangling the language. :) )

It is, of course, up to the owner of any mailing list to set the policy
for their list, but I believe that a strict rule barring off-topic posts
stifles the usefulness of such things.

Rick