This "episode" has not caused anybody to leave.

Gareth has been simmering away for years, and has finally done what he should have done long ago. Ralf is just being silly, and Stefan is being very silly (no surprise there). The choice is theirs entirely: nobody pushed them.

As I said earlier, JR used to be much more easy-going, but has got tougher in recent years. My suspicion is that he has been encouraged to take a harder line by the owners of the site. I have had two posts interfered with in the past three or four months, but I don't think it is something to make an issue of. People see things differently, we just have to accept that and move on.

What is at issue here is maturity.

The only apology owed is by Tim to JR. Tim wasn't banned out of the blue; and certainly not because of his original post. He took steps to escalate the situation, and that led to the ban.

I suspect that, as with Gareth, Tim was harbouring some resentment that led him to behave as he did.

G

I am a first to last person myself, too. Steve, are you not aware of the "oldest unread post" icon?

G

Very few people have been permanently banned, Ralf, and I can't think of any who didn't deserve it.

I post here much less than I did, and it's largely because this forum has in the past two or three years attracted a number of people who I wish had stayed away.

I should be sorry to see you go, but it's your choice. JR has a very difficult job to do, and deserves out support, whether or not we always agree with his decisions.

I suspect he has been leaned on by the owners of the site to get tough. Certainly at one time he adopted a more laissez-faire approach than recently.

We all get annoyed when we get a parking ticket, but we shrug our shoulders, pay, and get on with life. If a few more people adopted the same approach here, we wouldn't have these silly and totally avoidable problems.

An exasperated G

Had you been here a bit longer, you would know that Gareth has previously had run-ins with the moderators. Surely you can tell from reading his post.

His decision to go is therefore no great surprise.

Frankly, when people harbour grudges it is best for them to seek new pastures. Otherwise, we get the sort of nonsense that has been evident in some posts in this thread.

People come, and people go. This forum has its ups and downs, and one or two people more or less will make very little difference. Gareth was generally a positive force, but not invariably.

G

The smoothness of the Takumars is legendary.

G

If on the outside they may be the result of an attempt to clean the glass, and might come off if you use acetone or a proprietary lens cleaner.

G

Your faith in the altruism of a ruthless American software giant is very touching.

G

They'll find a way. They'll introduce a new, improved, version with some must-have feature. It won't be part of the standard, and they'll charge for it.

G

Ralf,

Tim didn't get banned for 7 days until he had earned that ban.

Whether or not Tim agreed with JR's initial action, there was no need to escalate the issue. He could have discussed it calmly by PM, and at the end agreed to differ. At that stage he DID have a right to reply, and he abused it.

You are making out that a great injustice has been done. It hasn't.

To be banned, you have to seriously overstep the mark.

I have, in seven years, never known somebody to be banned who didn't deserve it.

As I said, this is the Internet. It's not life or death.

G

As Hyram said, there are more significant disasters in the world than this. It's been very much a monsoon in a thimble.

G