RE: Starting Engineer's Salaries

>> Hard to know if the quiet was due to trolling or some externality.

>It looks to me like this email list is usually quiet because the vast
>majority of the members have self-selected so that they have many of
>the same opinions. You do not get many interesting discussions that go
>"X is good." "I agree". "Me too". "Count me in". "+1".

I think that is only part of it.  I think that the general trend away from
email lists to twitter is a strong factor.  For example, the Culture list is
a lot quieter than it was 6 years ago, even though the mix of folks hasn't
changed that much.  8-9 years ago, there were 100 emails/day here, and most
of it wasn't due to clashes between viewpoints as different as yours and the
median of this list's viewpoints. 

But having said that, it is true that the occasional flair up of posts here
and on Culture have usually coincided with someone bringing in a non-norm
opinion, and numerous people on the list arguing with that one person....or
that argument spurring side discussions.  I also know that this list has
made its more conservative, vocal members feel less than welcome after years
of feeling welcome.

Dan M.