How many newsgroup members . . .

How many newsgroup members does it take to change a light bulb?

1 to change the light bulb.

1 to post that the light bulb has been changed.

14 to share similar experiences of changing light bulbs and how the light bulb could have been changed differently.

7 to point out spelling/grammar errors in posts about changing light bulbs.

18 to flame the spell checkers.

2 industry professionals to inform the group that the proper term for "light bulb" is "lamp".

15 know-it-alls who claim they were in the industry and that "light bulb" is perfectly correct.

5 to email others that the light bulb posters are in violation of the list etiquette.

10 to post that this list is not about light bulbs and to please take this discussion to a light bulb list.

12 to demand that cross posting to the hardware list, off-topic list, and light bulb list about changing light bulbs be stopped.

17 to defend the posting to this list saying that we all use light bulbs and therefore the posts are relevant to this list.

25 to debate which method of changing light bulbs is superior, where to buy the best light bulbs, what brand of light bulbs work best for this technique, which brands are faulty, and URLs where one can see examples of different light bulbs.

14 to post that the URLs were posted incorrectly and then post the corrected URLs.

33 to link all posts to date, quote them in their entirety including all headers and signatures, and add "Me too".

4 to suggest that posters request the light bulb FAQs.

13 to ask what is a "FAQ"?

19 to say "do a search on 'light bulbs' before posting questions about light bulbs".

27 to complain that "we've already discussed light bulbs."

42 to post "if you don't want to read it, skip it."

12 to post to the group that they will no longer post because they cannot handle the light bulb controversy.

1 new forum member to respond to the original post 6 months from now so it will start all over again.

Submitted by: Pat N.