smd@clock.org (Hi, Sean) said:
P.S.: Isn't it cool that none of us is using an address which in any way informs a person who didn't already know, who it is that we work for?
The thing I thought on reading that was that it was further evidence that you (me, everyody) should be conservative in that you send, and liberal in what you receive. The comment illustrates (to me, I'm not trying to put words in Sean's mouth here) that, in an industry as small as ours, you should exercise caution in dealing with people; someone working at a startup with a DSL connection to the net today could very well be an influential person at a global provider or vendor on which you depend tomorrow. The person you flame tonight might be the person you need to help you solve a problem tomorrow. You just never know. As for the "anonymity" of personal email accounts, and those amusing disclaimers trying to dissociate a person's opinions from their employer, the flip side of Sean's comment is that in many cases it's not too hard to figure out someone's employer at any given time. While the use of the personal email address and the disclaimer may provide some protection from having one's statements interpreted as binding on the employer of the moment (IANAL), I doubt that protection extends to preventing people from wondering how the employer of someone flaming away on NANOG feels about the person doing it. So, some advice. Be conservative in what you send, be liberal in what you receive. Treat the people you converse with here as if you may need them to do you a favor tomorrow. I would hope that would be as common sense as not running with scissors, but apparently it's not. Stephen P.S. This is posted from my "work" account, and I try very hard to make my opinions the opinions of my employer.