I'm not sure where I got the link from, but a few weeks ago I joined IT Toolbox's perl-l mailing list. As some of you know, I have a habit of hanging around on the outskirts of the Perl world trying to persuade people into the core Perl community. I thought I'd be able to answer a few questions and point a few people at places like Perl Monks.
After a few days, I realised that the list was very quiet. I answered a couple of questions. Time passed. And then the list moderator sent an email to the list that contained nothing about Perl - it was just an advert for some proprietary technology. And then yesterday it happened again. It seems that every week the moderator sends out an email advertising something completely non-Perl related. I sent an email in response saying that I thought that was a bit strange and pointing people at some alternative sources of Perl help and advice that wouldn't try to sell you anything.
Today I got a response from the list moderator telling me that my message was rejected as "messages that do not stick to the topic of discussion are not permitted". I had a good chuckle to myself at that.
So I'm going to unsubscribe from the list. There were probably people who I could have helped, but it's too much hassle if the list moderator is censoring me all the time. If you're ever tempted to join the perl-l community then my advice is not to bother.
