stealthing is often more of a pain in the ass than it's worth especially if a crowd is badly behaved.
And to disagree...I often find open taping is more of a pain in the ass.
it should not be that way, but it often is (at least in my experience). if there were more
good opportunities for open taping i would certainly do more of it, but the crowds and the venues are the biggest obstacles.
whether our preferred MO is open taping or stealth we all love music (which is why we go to so much time, effort and expense to record it). as long as nobody is doing anything wrong with their recordings (i.e. selling them, uploading them for public consumption where it is not appropriate, etc.) i don't think anyone on this board condemns or frowns upon stealth... at least i would hope not. it just tends to be a contentious subject when discussed in the public forum because it's being discussed in the public forum.
and as for tonedeaf's decision to retire from stealth, i respect that decision whatever his reasons.