Feeding Stray Cats

[Josh <full-disclosure () nicepeople org>]

During my subscriptions to this list, I have noticed a continuing rise 
in the noise floor.  Recently, the list has seen somewhat of an alarming 
trend:

SIMPLE SECURITY QUESTIONS/RIDICULOUS POSTS FROM NON-SECURITY PEOPLE

If we continue to answer the ridiculous questions,  we will continue to 
have ridiculous people posting opinions in flame wars(many of which were 
started by the afformentioned) and on topics they know nothing about.

My suggestion is to not feed stray cats lest they hang around and shit 
in the flower bed.  If they would like to read the list, that is great.  
I doubt they would know if they had something useful to add so I would 
suggest to them that they just listen for at least a few months, and 
RTFM (http://info.astrian.net/jargon/terms/r/RTFM.html) / 
(http://lists.netsys.com/full-disclosure-charter.html) before posting.

If we continue to answer these questions, we cause two problems:
1.We increase the Signal to Noise Ratio of this list, thereby driving 
away those who have value to add but do not have the time to read the 
quantity of posts created
2.We set a dangerous precedent of accepting posts not related to the 
charter(http://lists.netsys.com/full-disclosure-charter.html)

This message is in regards to those who don't know how to configure 
their home firewall, those who don't know what ports to firewall off 
etc, THINK THAT COMMON SENSE IS AN EXPLOIT!!! etc...

In case you don't understand,  here is an exploit:
If I beat my computer with a stick, it will eventually cause a denial of 
service condition. This is probably not something we need to hear about 
on this list.
If you beat yourself with a stick and cause a denial of service 
condition,  please send me pictures, but off list.

This list was designed for those who are on par in the security industry 
to post and discuss security issues.  This is not a newbie help list.

My $.02 USD

-Josh
full-disclosure () nicepeople org
http://www.defcon.org/html/links/dc-goons.html#josh
Remember, you too can drown in your bowl of corn flakes!

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