RE: Re: Forms overlays

midrange-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

>   7. Re: Forms overlays (Keith Carpenter)
>
>Vendors are allowed to be informative, but advertising is prohibited.
>
>David makes the rules, but it would be nice to simply refer people to
>http://resources.midrange.com and skip the plugs.

Yeah, it gets tough to both be (employed by) a vendor and contribute 
meaningfully to the list. There are areas I know a lot about, but I can't speak 
up in any detail. Other areas, I don't know and I'm just as likely to be asking 
questions. (Unfortunately, I don't know everything. <g>)

Then there are a couple general areas that I can put a lot of discussion about 
on the list. But sooner or later, it moves towards "proprietary info" and my 
employer wouldn't be pleased if I don't shut up. When I know general info about 
an area, I'm happy to contribute what I can. A healthy list is good for 
everybody.

Most often, I don't need to mention anything about the company I work for. The 
discussion simply doesn't merit it. Only when detail starts demonstrating 
complexity will I turn it into a <vendor plug>.

Like other vendor employees, after helping develop various solutions, I'm very 
aware of pitfalls and problems with OS/400 releases and system configuration 
changes and PTFs, ad nauseum. To imply that it's better/cheaper/whatever to 
develop in-house simply by shutting up is in many ways a disservice to listers.

Vendors (and employees) can be some of the best list resources. Who generally 
knows more about a subject area? And they certainly can't be expected to 
contribute by giving away everything about how it's done. If that became a 
requirement, a lot of expertise would go silent.

At some point, it's bound to become a marketing reference. To me, that point 
usually comes at a subjective complexity boundary. Hopefully, it's seen that 
it's just cheaper and faster to buy rather than build.

And that's got as much value for the list as pure technical knowledge. Some of 
the value every reader gets from the list is a picture of where resources can 
be found. Every once in a while, someone might call our Sales group after 
seeing something here, and that benefits my employer. And every once in a 
while, someone from the list calls a vendor, and that can benefit their 
employer.

We're all assets. It doesn't _have_ to be purely technical to stay that way.

Tom Liotta