Eric points out that 'the profit motive' is a factor in both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. I would take matters a step or two further. The issue of individual gain is a smokescreen and an illusion. I have not seen a net.culture aversion to the posting of job opportunities pertinent to the subject of particular lists, nor to the establishment of lists or newsgroups where items are offered for sale. The actual/practical criterion seems to be the pertinence of the <crass materialistic item> to the core business of the list or newsgroup. This grew from the Internet's recent emphasis on education and research, which its practitioners seemed to think made all activities of participants 'pure' as long as those participants were members of a privileged group. Now that there are commercial services offering net access, a partly-justified fear has arisen that the interlopers will ruin the neighborhood. A reasonable vigilance is appropriate, but not vigilantism. --bayla (whose freelance earnings just about qualify her for non-profit status :-)