As has been said by others before me, financial contributions shouldn't be regarded as 'handouts'. The way I see it, Max has built a fantastic resource for us to use. I have used it since 1999 at least - it has become a 'home from home' for me on the net, something unequalled by anything else I've found so far. A lot of people contribute, devote their time to it and make it the resource it is.

BUT: If need be, we could do without every single one of them - even Joe. We could NOT do without Max, his dedication and his technical equipment and expertise. You'd have to look long and hard to find anybody who'd be prepared to do what Max is doing. Therefore, I regard any financial contributions as his due, not as handouts. By rights he ought to charge us, if only to recover his costs.

Max, I respect and admire your decision not to do this but instead try and find ways to make the Mudcat pay in other ways. I hope, though, you'll change your attitude to financial contributions those who benefit from using the Mudcat (we!) may want to make. They shouldn't be regarded as different from any other 'revenue' generated by the site, other than the fact that they are accompanied by three words: Thank you, Max!

As to Tom Bliss' worries: Understandable to some extent, yet I'd hate to see the Mudcat (like others I've visited) turned into a forum mainly for plugging CDs and gigs and 'sanitised' in order not to scare off prospective buyers. That wouldn't be the Mudcat any more. Maybe I don't look at the right threads, but it seems to me there have been worse times for trolling and unpleasantness. I much prefer the Mudcat to the Usenet for that very reason.

To accommodate the business aspect, maybe an extra section, separate from the forum but reachable through a button, could be created where new CDs etc. could be advertised, and Mudcat would get a cut of earnings from that. Just an idea.

As to other ideas: Compulsory preview would be ok, and I also think the edit function for own postings where changes are shown to have been made a good idea. Anything further: no.