FSS
I do not know you. I do not know Mr. Linn. We share a common bond which is the elevator industry.
In my opinion, this thread started off generally as a thread about sharing trade knowledge via the open internet. It opened with a reprint of Mr. Linn's IUEC trade journal article. A thread concerning the dissemination of technical elevator information to the general public from an IUEC elevator mechanic's point of view.
As an elevator mechanic, I can see and have seen and experienced how putting a little technical or "how to" information in the "wrong" hands can lead to and has led to elevator related accidents.
Once "how to" information is posted on forums such as this one or yours it is in the public realm "forever and for whomever".
In my service area, there is no short supply of building maintenance personnel who would like to be able to pick an elevator door open or "reset" a "stalled" car. I personally see it often enough and have seen these same type people do dangerous things around elevator equipment and get themselves and others hurt.
These types generally make my job more difficult and the elevator equipment I service less secure. As a professional, I strive to make the elevator equipment I routinely service reliable and accident free at reasonable cost. Further, my name and reputation as an elevator mechanic is associated with each car I work on. Lastly, in the Country I live, I have personal liability associated with my work and the equipment I work on.
Now, ask me if I want you and your open forum to provide building maintenance personnel or others with little to no technical elevator experience with "how to" information they think they might be able to use to make repairs to these same elevators, or to unlock these same hoistway doors that I am "responsible" for.
Our concerns may be better focused not on "The Right of Free Speech, without personal attack & the right of Freedom", but on sensible ways of improving ourselves, the equipment we work on and the elevator industry as a whole. I simply do not believe dishing out technical how to elevator information to the general public via open internet forums supports our industry concerns.
Finally, regarding your question regarding etiquette. On elevatorworld dot com you reprinted a trade journal article penned by an elevator industry professional without his permission. You included his name and email address. You held it up in a public forum, pointed at it, and provided your commentary in what I believe to be a mocking manner.
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