Though I don't know Dale, and I'm sure he will be sorely missed - I don't think Dale left purely because of comments made there. It seems that he wanted Mudcat to be something that it isn't at the moment, and that thread was just a catalyst.

He made the point about what would be left of mudcat if all the people who answer questions left. Well I wonder what mudcat would be like if it were purely a music resource site and nobody was allowed to post on other subjects. As a newcomer, I have to say I don't think I would have hung around. I'm not a great source of info, but I try to answer peoples questions when I can. I ask when I need to know stuff. And the people who answer me are very often the same people that i am talking to about totally unrelated things in other threads.

In short, I think if the mudcat was the way Dale wanted it to be, there would be far more people leaving. I'm sad that it cant be a place everyone enjoys, but I can't help that.

In most cases, it is very obvious whether a thread is a musical one or just a bit of idle chat. Surely its easy enough to avoid the type you don't like. And post more of the type you do like.

Oh well, thats all i ahve to say.

Bagpuss