[Talk] Mailing List Memberships

[David Lloyd]

Luigi

> I agree but it must be made clear if the volume is large we may advise a new
> list will be required.

Which is precisely what I stated at last night's meeting...

> Sometimes strange initial discussions lead to very interesting topics.

On the other hand, one of the strengths of the LinuxSA list -- and one 
of the things that I particularly like (1) -- is that large, rambling 
almost, but not quite, totally off topic subjects aren't immediately 
squashed.

This means that LinuxSA almost never goes quiet even for those members 
who never come to the meeting which gives LinuxSA an identity to hold 
onto. Unfortunately, quarterly yearly journals and almost dead mailings 
lists don't strike me as a way to keep membership and non-membership 
interest.

We need non-membership interest because, by definition, new members are 
non-members (you can't get new members from people who are already 
members -- really obvious but worth stating):

I make the following comments about AUUGN and mailing lists:

--
* AUUGN

I am interested in the journal and I believe it's worth retaining. But 
it doesn't have a wide readership...

* Dead and/or Closed Mailing Lists

If there is something to talk about or argue about -- even if it is way 
off topic -- it means the group is alive. Whilst I believe that 
membership to mailing lists should be closed to the people who are 
members of the mailing list (to stop spam etc), closing the sa-auug 
mailing list to non-members is, in my opinion, non-sensical.
--

I don't believe that forking mailing lists, especially when the traffic 
is....ummmmm....3 messages per month (if that)...makes sense. I think 
that the AUUG members on the list should make that decision -- not the 
executive. It's certainly a viewpoint that I will champion and will 
continue to champion so long as I administer/moderate the mailing lists.

:-)

-- 
Praise belongs to God, the Lord of all Being,
  the All Merciful, the All Compassionate
    the Master of the Day of Doom.
    (The Opening to the Qu'ran)