@Daudi,
Dennis sorted you out on a goodwill basis and this has been the essence of skunks in which we all share the goodwill until we discovered that there are others on this list who also make an income from such queries and felt rightfully so that we are not doing the right thing. I believe the bidding process is a step to protect and create an enterprise environment for those who would wish to quote for the work or even basic consultancy. Unlike other sectors where Non Disclosure Agreements and IP rights are thought of even before anything gets done I believe things in skunks are slowly changing.
If you can suggest another consultacy method that can work and create enterprise for skunks, the more merrier. I thought of a bidding system where whoever responds to your query would have rightfully earned some income from their knowledge. @Dennis answered your query but did not receive any financial benefit for his technical expertise but in an ideal situation there would be some gratitude going beyond thanks.
We have people who advertise on this list, suppose someone said they could offer the same goods free? How then does it work? Once again I'd like you to put the discussion into a skills perspective ( under a service industry ) and try to understand the situation. If you are offended, then you definately have my apology on the issue of not having explained earlier what we are trying to achieve.
Anyway, I believe it is upto skunks to decide and not me.
Rgds. :-)