Heh... man its good to be back. I'll toss in some kindling of a different kind (think of it as "flavoring wood" under a BBQ grill).
What I find enjoyable about this forum is exactly THAT IT IS so small. In fact, some of the threads Vonu has dug up lately (read: prior to my recent return from abroad) are threads I partook in, and recall as occasionally being... ahem... "heated debates".
I can still recall a few threads that the administrati closed down ("wisely" on at least one occasion I can recall) but they were never deleted. This is a GOOD thing, IMHO, as it also presents the various member's ability to deal with each other without slitting throats. As far as I can see, most here have done a remarkable job avoiding ad hominem attacks ad discussing actual issues and ideas. This is a good thing, IMHO.
So, as a word of advice to Vonu and others who support the idea of "pruning the archive"... keep in mind fella, not even the Vatican "prunes" its real archives... and they've got thousands of years worth of "content", most of which the plebes aren't even allowed to know about, nevermind actually granted audience to see or touch in an unaltered state.
So my advice to you is simple, enjoy what you find here, and read a book called "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" by one Eric S. Raymond (who is one of the FEW gun carrying Open Source geeks out there, despite his so called "neo con" tendencies.) He's also an eccentric snob, so be careful when dealing with him, he tends to be abusive to those he sees as incapable of RTFM or RTFFAQ.
The outlook painted in that book is fairly close to the "free market" ideal. We each got into this (freedom ideals, philosophy, science, open source, free market ideas and implementation, etc) to scratch our own itches. If that last sentence is true, then the results are good and progress is guaranteed. If the individual is in it to "make the world a better place for everyone" then they are probably still dealing with it from the socialist/statist point of view, few who want such long reaching results are willing to do the foot work. Most prefer to request that "someone should do something about this". If each of us took care of his yard first, then the entire world would be a garden of Eden in less than a decade (probably in less than a year, as far as I can tell.) To that end, take what you will from here, enjoy it, make use of it as best it suits you, and then build what makes you happy, and if it pleases you, share some of it with us. IMNSHO, if my yard is fruitful, and I have spare time, THEN I can help YOU make YOURS the same, or share some of my own bounty. This is the missing mindset in the vast world... (what shocks me about American yards is exactly that, I see acres of land and not a vineyard, not a tree, not even bushes, just artificial LAWN... people have ALL this space, all this great land to use for their benefit, and all they do is mow it non stop. During my visit abroad, at my old grandparents' estate, which is tiny by even American "middle class" standards, I visited their vineyard, their garden, etc. If they still had their old lands, they could've probably fed and employed a small town.
Anyways, this is getting too long for a mere bit of advice. Just keep in mind, there is no need to "prune" the archive just as in a true free market no product, regardless of how good, or how bad would be pruned. It would merely not be patronized in lieu of other, better (or more appropriate for the demand) goods or services.