TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
On February 21 John Gear sent a long posting railing against the evils of
advertising and people posting ads to the group. Within his posting he
recommended a book complete with the name of the book, author, publisher,
ISBN number, etc. Didn't that constitute an advertisement posted within his
posting against ads?
I personally have no objection, and even welcome, ads posted if they are
within the topic of the discussion group. These discussion groups are for the
dissemination of information. When someone recommends Framemaker, Word, or
even Quark (which is better than all the others combined) they are giving
testimonials for that product, or word-of-mouth advertising. Maybe we should
ban people from mentioning names of products?