I’d like to throw my opinion into the ring here.
CTWUG is facing the same problem today as it started to face when I decided to leave the network, and it’s a problem that is only going to get worse, unless real considered change is made to the way new users are added to the network.
Consider the following:
Hundreds of people have spent thousands of hours physically building, configuring and coding systems to build CTWUG, often at great personal expense or via community donations, to create a FREE, FAIR and OPEN wifi network for ENTHUSIASTS to build onto and learn from, and to play the odd game on etc.
When someone comes along and starts to try and leverage off this network for financial gain, whether by selling or sharing internet access or more nefarious means, they are raising a middle finger to those that have built and spent their own money on creating an infrastructure off which that person is now profiting. This goes against not only the core principles of why CTWUG was started, but also against the rules and constitution of the group.
This problem is one of your own creation though - instead of sticking to growing a group of enthusiasts, the network is sold to end-user types that don’t have any interest or want to learn and use the network for what it is really for - to build and learn from. They get connected by a friend or family member and are left to their own devices, making use of CTWUG as if it was a commercial product, so when offered things like internet for a cost, they assume its okay and within the scope of what is acceptable.
CTWUG needs to take a long, hard, honest look internally at the calibre of user it is connecting to the network, scale back on trying to rapidly expand for numbers and set its sights on the root of the group’s formation - ENTHUSIASTS that are here to LEARN from one another and become a COMMUNITY.
/2c