[Leica] Purging the Party and witches hunting

[Alan Ball/LUNA<AlanBall@csi.com>]

Dear leica-users,

When I had the pleasure of subscribing to the LUG mailing list last 
January, I was extremely happy to have the opportunity to learn mountains 
of useful data on the M camera system I had just purchased. I have received 
extremely useful advice and read with delight some of the unbelievably 
intricate trivia that comes with the passion some of you have for 
collecting old equipment or for documenting the history of an old factory.

With time, I found out that some members of this group share the form of 
solidarity and privacy that comes from intense discussions and/or meetings 
through the years. It is quite usual in any organization that the "elders" 
feel they "own" it, and that the arrival of new members ruins the "great 
atmosphere" that was there in the "old days". Some "newbies" try to 
integrate the "core group" by adopting all their rhetorics and rituals, 
others do not really care. I'm of the second sort.

All of that is perfectly OK.

What is absolutely not OK, is when "respected speakers of the core group" 
launch inquisitorial operations and ask for procedures of expulsion. This 
can badly hurt individuals, even if the action is limited to the limbo of 
cyberspace. 

During the last few hours, some of you seem to have lost control over 
themselves. I am exposed to an avalanche of denunciations, of threats, of 
trials of intent, of insults. Some of you are requiring the expulsion of a 
fellow leica user who has not shown any offensive attitude whatsoever in 
his postings. Others seem to require a purge, taking the opportunity to 
link together people who are not linked in any way.

I have never seen this level of hate and sectarism in any other Internet 
forum or newsgroup I have ever participated in. I cannot believe my eyes.

Since I would like to be able to go on enjoying the information that 
regularly pops up in this mailing list, I firmly ask that we impose a 
cease-fire and that we all - from now on - refrain from any attacks on 
individuals in the framework of this list. 

If this is not possible, I'll get my information elsewhere. I'm sure others 
share this opinion.

There is a whole thread on a M bayonet prototype sighted in Sidney on 
Usenet right now: seems like titanium finish body. Could be the M7, could 
be a Konica, could be a Contax, could be a joke....

Alan
Brussels-Belgium.