Recently there was kind of a discussion, with one user being a bit mean towards the other regarding the latter posting a link to Amazon.
While I do not agree with how they brought the discussion, I think it would be great to read everyone’s opinion about what should be link, and if linking to specific websites should be forbidden.
For example, we have Open Library, BookWyrm, Inventaire, etc, if you only want to link to a book’s information, and while it is harder to find a replacement to a web site where you can buy books, users can always search for it if they want.
What are your thoughts?
What about recommending these libre web sites in the side bar but still allowing proprietary ones?
Or writing a bot that tries to resolve the Amazon product to a libre site equivalent and replies with a comment?
The flagship instance forbids bots, so I don’t think that will be possible.
I think it’s a great idea. Authors only can find libre sites, when someone recommends them. I also think it’s a good idea, when they are made aware of possible alternatives in the comments. Not everyone looks at the sidebar in detail or directly knows, what the links are useful for.