> This is a bit of a tired debate (there have been many others...)

...but you know what? It's only a tired debate to you, and the others of us who've read (and contributed to the lengthy) discussions that have been held before.

But to someone new to the site, it's still an interesting thing. In fact, when you first encounter PM, one of the things that you learn before anything else is the XP system. So to a newcomer, this is an interesting debate. And, judging from the number of replies in just this discussion thread, others find it interesting enough to continue participating.

I spent a day at a middle school last week and was reminded that for some people, much of the knowledge that we (at PM, or as adults) take for granted is exciting and new to others. And it doesn't matter if it's because they're 12 years old, or because they just found an interest in this field.

So if you find it hard to stomach yet another discussion about XP, their value (or lack therof), and the means of acquiring them, then let others do it. A contribution with links to other discussion nodes (such as this one, or this one, and this one) near the top of a conversation such as this would be a wonderful way to give the newcomers a chance to jump right to other relevant content and perhaps stifle some wheel-reinvention. Otherwise, these sorts of discussions are easy to identify early, and then it's no trouble to move off to another part of the Monastary looking for fresh material.

To participate here as an expert is to be an educator of sorts. And the lot of an educator is to participate in discussions that we may have visited before. We must do this with grace.

...All the world looks like -well- all the world, when your hammer is Perl.
---v