Firstly, this is supposed to be a friendly list where people with like
interests can get together and share their experiences. It is NOT a
place for slander and insult. If you really feel a need to abuse
someone, please do so offlist in private email.
Just as a helpful guideline, treat everyone else like they might know
more than you. In this way you will tend to be less condescending, and
people won't flame you as often. It is not unusual on this list for
someone who has been an alt-photo practitioner for several decades to
learn something new from someone who has only been fiddling around for a
few months.
Second, the art versus technique debates should be taken to the forums
that were created for them, such as PHOTO-ART. The reason there are so
many mailing lists is so that people can pick their areas of interest
and be assured of not getting other material. The alt-photo mailing list
is intended to discussions more of technique than "art". If you want to
discuss the latter, even with regard to the former, take it to the
photo-art list where they like to bicker about such things. A lot of the
people here simply aren't interested, which is why they're not on
photo-art.
Third, in the interests of keeping traffic reasonable, if you make a
subjective assessment of something, please give the basis for your
comment. For example, rather than saying "I use X because it is better",
say something like "I have found X to be better than Y because of A, B,
and C", or even admit "I've only used X, and as it is sufficient for my
needs, haven't tried Y". This will stop all those messages asking why "X
is better than Y", or the further bickering between proponents of X and
the advocates of Y.
Finally, please play nice. It is no fun getting an ear full of abuse,
and it is not what this list was created for.
cheers
-steve