I am actually torn here. See, I am quite intrigued by zentara's idea of a "watercooler" type of section, because main stream society is generally not interested in a lot of geek discussion, so a social outlet for programmers, located where we could simultaneously learn, research, code and have some nice relaxing social interaction (getting to know our fellow monks, making new friends, etc.) is really quite a cool situation to contemplate.

However, I also share toolic's views, about the potential for slowing down the site. Off-topic sections, would attract quite a bit of attention and newcomers (along with quite a bit of trash, I'm sure) and since I too often search and research through the site to increase my knowledge of the language, productivity and understanding, as I'm sure countless other monks do on a daily basis, I'd have to say that the need and demand for that particular benefit, is not worth compromising. Then again, how big would the compromise be?

Would it create a wonderful oppurtunity to get to know each other on a closer level, make friends and ultimately nit together a network which could now include a more social aspect...or would it create such a distraction that not only would the site slow down, but the trash it brought and the janitor's inability to keep such a busy section clean render the whole thing useless?

As I said, I'm torn. Our monks always have such good points to make about each suggestion, that just about everything brought up can be made interesting and worth a thought. One of the reasons why I love this place so much ;)!