Thanks Jim and ward for the comments.
As always Jim you underestimate yourself. It is a good thing for us. It reminds me of a story where a famous martial artist was teaching classes for free. When his students pooled some funds together to show their admiration, he steadfastly refused to take it. Eventually he admitted that if he was to be paid for his services there is no way the students would be able to afford it, and continued to teach for free. You were taught by these 'pillars' and now return the favor to us. You clearly feel that it would be wrong to try to profit from their work and that it would be a betrayal of their trust. This is exactly the social norms the 'pillars' have come to expect and trust from you, it is why they 'gave' it to you. Everybody gains from this, the pillars , you, and us. This trust continues on, and is why we hear from the modern pillars, such as Philip, Artzi, ward, ham and the others including yourself. So much for the good.
Now the bad. There are people who profit from other's work. It may be as simple as lifting information from this site without credit to the forumite, or at minimum credit to the site where the information may have had multiple contributors. The information may be used to promote an individual, another forum, a publication, or a sword for sale etc. This doesn't cost the original researcher anything in monetary value, but it clearly breaks the social norms in which the context of the original information was given. Much like pirating a DVD costs the movie makers nothing but breaks the market norms for which it was provided. Once the trust has been broken it is very hard to mend, once burned... and all that.
The Ugly. To me this is when a thread loses any reasonable social conduct. It may be as simple as not acknowledging a post, to the more obvious trolling, baiting and rudeness too often seen in the internet world.
Now for my final word (thank goodness!). I have just reread my post and it it would appear that I am totally pissed with posting, and this forum. In reality, nothing could be farther from the truth. Like my original story, I could not afford to buy the information I have gained from this site. I have made great friends here and look forward to meeting more of you in person. The Bad and the Ugly are the exceptions to the rule here, but, I will admit that when a new name appears I tend to wait to see their pattern of behavior before I take the time to try to answer their post. This is part (not the only reason, work) why my posting has diminished. I wish I could be more like Jim, in-fact I wish we all could be!!!
All the Best
Jeff
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