in general I see no netiquette problems with simply linking to a site, especially a fully public one.

The thing with this discussion is, it's not about the generally acceptable rules of netiquette. Those are a floor. Though it's perfectly fine to discuss those in general, it doesn't get one anywhere w/r/t hewing to the norms here.

This is an insular, idiosyncratic and largely democratic community that's been around for a relatively long time in internet years. And as such, it has a lot of unspoken norms. If it's hard to comply with sometimes-- tough. Seriously. When a member of the community brings a norm to the attention of a new person, defensiveness is not the answer. If there's wiggle room, people here will make it clear. If there's a consensus, then that norm is something that should be respected as a condition of being accepted by the community here.

If it sounds like I'm taking this a little seriously, it's because a new person causing offense to a number of people and then arguing that the norms are unfair or unknowable happens maybe 3-4 times a year here, and it always ends badly.

What's the difference between hotlinking and regular linking?

Hotlinking is when you want to, say, use a picture from another site on your site, so in your page you just link directly to the file of the graphic on that other site, rather than placing a copy of the graphic on your server and using that in your page. It's bad because you get to use the graphic without incurring the bandwidth costs, leaving the owners of the other site to pay for it.

What's the difference between hotlinking and regular linking?

I think I know this one -- what you hotlink a photo, it uses bandwidth whenever someone loads the page. If you put a link to it, people have to click through, so it only uses the host site's bandwidth when people look at the photo on purpose.

The thing with this discussion is, it's not about the generally acceptable rules of netiquette. Those are a floor. Though it's perfectly fine to discuss those in general, it doesn't get one anywhere w/r/t hewing to the norms here.

And I meant to say this, too -- what's generally ok in the wider world is not necessarily ok here. It's like if everyone in a certain small town says hello when they pass someone on the street. Just because I'd never do that where I live doesn't mean I won't be considered rude if I don't do it there.

Sorry, I just had to slap your hand now for this one, F.

I was hoping somebody would comment on that. That was my first glimpse into the ugly side of fandom, before I was actually participating in any, and it made me give a lot of things a wide berth for a while.

What's the difference between hotlinking and regular linking?

I'd like to know this too. Is it something you have to go out of your way to do? If so, I don't care as much, but I'd hate to do it accidentally if it's such a bad thing.

Hotlinking is using inline images (or even possibly video, I guess) in your own page/post which point to an outside source. So if, say, I put up a photo essay about Firefly on my hypothetical website, but all the image links were to still-flying.net, that would be hotlinking. And it's a big no-no because it's sucking somebody else's bandwidth without any kind of acknowledgement or original context.

[link]

And as such, it has a lot of unspoken norms.

And my point is that perhaps those unspoken norms should be made more explicit. I saw nothing in the FAQ or etiquette guide about linking to here.

In this case, the offender was somebody who actually posts and reads regularly. What if it was somebody who stumbled upon the site? Doesn't even have an account?

And my point is that perhaps those unspoken norms should be made more explicit

You don't think they're pretty explicit now? XXXplicit, even?

Here's a visual aid:

This is a douchebag from myspace.

[link]

Notice that amulet in the "about me" description?

It's hotlinked from my Wolfram & Hart Charity Auction page.

What he did was enter the URL for the picture, and uploaded that to his myspace site.

So everytime someone goes to his page, they're actually loading my page, as well. He's stealing my bandwidth.

Now, he COULD just right click on the picture, save the image to his hard drive, and then upload it. Doesn't suck bandwidth from me. Is rude in that he's not crediting where he got the picture, but it's not a daily assfucking.

Eww. I wonder whose bandwith ze's ganking on the bad music?