Comment rules

Everything is read before it appears

Comments arrive pending and a person approves them. That is slower than posting straight through, and it is the reason the comments here are worth reading.

What gets through

Disagreement, corrections, better answers than the one in the post, and questions. Telling us we are wrong is welcome, particularly with a reason.

What does not

• Personal attacks, harassment, or anything aimed at a person rather than an argument
• Marketing, link dropping, and anything written to rank rather than to be read
• Content that is unlawful, infringing, or discloses someone else's private information
• Machine-written filler posted to establish a presence

Blocking

Repeated abuse gets an address blocked. Blocked comments are dropped without notice, because telling someone they are blocked usually just produces a second account.

Your comment stays yours

You keep whatever rights you have in what you write. Posting it here grants permission to display it alongside the post, nothing more. Delete your account and your comments go with it: see privacy.

Comments close eventually

Older posts have comments closed. A thread that has been quiet for a long time attracts spam far more reliably than it attracts conversation.