I agree wholeheartedly with
Abigail-II on this. Speaking out against OT posts is the best way I know of to address a strongly potential problem *before* it becomes an actual and substantial problem.
I don't dislike OT posts out of arbitrariety, rather because they invite a trend toward slashdot-ness. One of the things I really like about the Monastery is that interaction here is mostly reasoned, civil, and mature, which contrasts tremendously with anything-goes sites. S/Nr++
I believe that the Monastery's fairly narrow focus plays a primary role in keeping this community a positive and enjoyable place to frequent. Personally, I have no end of (SQL|*nix|bash|win32|hygeine)-ish questions that I'd *love* to be able to post here. But I recognize that it would be detrimental to the community to do so. Hence, I bite my tongue, and spit dat chat in de CB.
For any who advocate a more laissez-faire approach, I'd encourage reading through some of Clay Shirky’s Writings About the Internet. I don't agree with everything he writes, but his commentaries on 'net communities and scaling make a lot of sense. Here's a couple notables, there are more.
To summarize, I submit that it's better for the Monastery as a community if off topic posts are gently, firmly, persistantly, and consistantly discouraged, and done so *before* adverse affects manifest. The CB provides a great facility for non-perlish discussions, with few-to-none adverse affects on the site.
cheers,
ybiC
striving toward Perl Adept
(it's pronounced "why-bick")