>I reread the related posts, and am not finding the intolerance you mentioned. Craig feels strongly about the Windows UI guidelines. He posted his opinion. I don't know why you consider this intolerant. And I seriously doubt that Craig thinks his pronouncements should be taken as the gospel. I have seen him more than once get ripped by JVP (hey, who hasn't).

I never said intolerant - he made a statement about they way he thought something should be done, with no attempt to justify why. He may or may not be right, I may or may not agree, neither is the point. What I am saying is some people set themselves up as experts & expect everyone to believe them, rightly or wrongly. It is all a matter of attitude. If you have the time to answer, then you should take the time to explain your answer. If,as a newcomer, I said to Craig, John, Cindy - what you are trying to do is wrong, then I would be expected to explain my point of view, so if any of those make a statement, they must justify themselves in the same way. (BTW, Craig, John, Cindy - if you are still reading this - I am not picking on you personally, to the exclusion of anyone else, my overall complaint is the general attitude)

>As far as Cindy goes, I read her posts more as trying to smooth the waters more than anything. And I did not see people closing ranks to defend Craig.

She probably was (& I took it as such), but it was not up to her to make any excuses for Craig.

>>The "inner sanctum" may also have something to learn from me. I have a different background, have dealt with different problems & may have different solutions. Given the response to various people (e.g the original poster in this thread), I feel that anything at variance with the "experts" will be greeted with scorn. Given their attitudes, it makes if difficult for outsiders like myself to join in, making it somewhat less of a community & more of a clique.
>
>Well, I hope you do stay and contribute, and I am pretty sure I can speak for Cindy and Craig. They may disagree with you, but I have found them to be very tolerant people.

They probably are very tolerant people. But again, it is not up to you to speak for them, if they feel it appropriate, then they will do so themselves.

>I am not saying your view is wrong, I am just not seeing evidence to support it.
That exemplifies what I am trying to say - you have your viewpoint & are not willing to budge from it - hence, I must be wrong (otherwise why perpetuate this thread ?). No halfway ground - it works for you, it doesn't work for me, but neither is wrong. You seem to be insistent on my justification for my particular view of a group (community, call it wahtever you want) that I was looking to enter, why haven't you pushed Craig so hard to justify his views, or ist it OK that he makes a statement of fact (being part of the "inner sanctum") & I, being an outsider, have no valid opinion ?

If I stick around long enough, I may change my opinion (maybe that will be because I will be seen to be an insider though).