Ken wrote:
> 
> Bill Dewitt wrote:
> 
> >     No. His use of the word "Dimocrat" seems to be the triggering event, but
> > the purported offence was his sigs which had been pretty much ignored for
> > months before.
> 
> The sigs were never ignored. The intolerance towards them grew until they
> could not be ignored any longer. I would go as far as to say the news admin.
> has shown extrodinary tolerance and patience in the last two years.
> 
> > > Flame wars cannot and do not turn in infernos without someone
> > > feeding or fanning the flames.
> >
> > POT has -never- had a flame war. Nothing even close.
> 
> Mostly true but things have been said that would better have been left
> unsaid. Personal insults and bigotry being at the top of the list. You
> don't need a flame war to act in a socially unacceptable manner.
> 
> I feel it is prudent to mention that p.o-t is not likely to return
> until this topic fizzles out here in .general. We would really like
> to get this behind us and move on.
> 
> --
> Ken Tyler

I hesitate to step in, but I've got a bit to add. 
Saying things in pot weren't really as bad as some people say doesn't alter the
fact that a lot of people started avoiding the whole newsgroup. For me
personally the things going on there really gave me a bad taste. I've tried to
ignore it or try to make a joke on it, or try to find some other sensible way to
react, but in the end I just skipped the whole group. The point is, that the
negative feelings from pot rubbed off on POV-Ray as a whole. This may seem
childish or over-sensitive but pot alone made POV-Ray seem something I'd rather
not be associated with. Off course this has nothing to do with the program
itself (just with, what is supposed to be "the community") and even though I
gave Blender a swirl too I still stick to my favorite 3D-program even though it
may not be the most logical choice for the job. 
Naturally this is just my personal experience, but I've seen others announce
fleeing from pot and i guess others decided to drop it without announcing. If a
community exists merely by a bunch of people who decide to drop most of their
inhibitons and leave the 'oversensitive whiners' behind that's not really a
community I'd choose to be a part of and in fact I'd hardly call that a
community at all. 
If, then, the owner of the server decides to put a stop to it, in whatever way,
for whatever reason, that's simply his right and just the thing you may expect. 
I'd hope pot could return in some form or another, with everyone participating
in a somewhat more responsible manner. Perhaps (and here's my constructive
input) it'd be possible to have an active moderator who can jump in when
discussions go the wrong direction or even when they start of on the wrong foot.

Kind regards and best wishes for a new year,

Remco

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