Quoting eric (eriic1@???):

> That may remove some of the (off-topic?) traffic on this list even
> though I do not know what is off-topic anymore.

One rule of thumb I try to follow, to reduce noise, is state a specific
point of contention twice at most, then exit, even if an Inevitable One
insists on rearguing said topic and misrepresenting what you said
(a common ploy to troll another party into continuing) -- evading the
notorious 'dogfight' antipattern that otherwise ensues:

     61 r + 170830 George Tirebiter  (636)             ,->
     62   F 170830 To George Tirebit ( 12)           ,->
     63 r + 170830 George Tirebiter  (520)         ,->
     64   F 170830 To George Tirebit ( 16)       ,->
     65 r + 170830 George Tirebiter  (230)     ,->
     66   F 170830 To George Tirebit ( 10)   ,->
     67 r + 170830 George Tirebiter  (121) ,->

ObWarGames: 'The only winning move is not to play.' IMVAO. ;->
(http://linuxmafia.com/~rick/lexicon.html#imvao))