FOM: a message from the moderator

[Stephen G Simpson]

Dear FOM subscribers,

As you know, FOM is a moderated mailing list.  This means that all
postings must be approved by the FOM moderator, i.e., me, Steve
Simpson.

One of the requirements that I have occasionally and reluctantly had
to enforce is that all FOM postings should have some serious
f.o.m. content.  Some individuals have chafed a bit under this
requirement, but on the whole I think FOM has been better because of
it.

Those who wish to discuss the above policy with me may do so,
off-line.  Such FOM policy discussions are of course not an
appropriate topic for the FOM list itself, because FOM is devoted
solely to foundations of mathematics.

Recently a particularly aggressive individual has expressed
considerable hostility toward the FOM list and has threatened various
actions to circumvent the above policy.  In particular, there have
been repeated threats of spam.  For those who don't know, ``spam''
refers to an unsavory and possibly illegal Internet practice of
misusing moderated mailing lists by sending inappropriate e-mail to
the subscribers in an unauthorized way.

I intend to do everything in my power to combat misuse of the FOM
list.  But there are limits on what I can do.  I apologize in advance
if any of you experience any inconvenience arising from misuse of the
FOM list by unauthorized individuals.

Sincerely,
-- Steve Simpson
FOM moderator