Re[2]: Splitting lists. [ADMIN] [LIST-SPLIT]

[Jay R. Ashworth]

On Thursday, March 16, 2000, at 1:19:22 PM, you wrote:
> Galen Johnson <gjohnson "at" totalsports.net> wrote:
>> I believe that the most sensible suggestion by far has been to add a
>> small tag to the beginning of the subject letting everyone know to what
>> the message pertains.  For example;
> [ 8< ... ]

> I'll second Jonathan Morton's opinion about this, that expecting such
> tag-discipline to be followed by incoming newbies (or even from many
> posters on a long-term basis) is an illusion. Completely relying on
> luser input always makes systems eventually crash.

I lied; I'll say something else.

:-)

So?

The point was to limit the reading load of people with specific
interests.  If people don't tag their messages, those people who care
about their reading load will have it reduced further... and there
will _always_ be _some_ people who don't filter that tightly.  The
only people who _can_ get screwed in a TAGging scheme are those who
are -- forgive me -- too lazy to tag their messages... and as noted,
even they will get some help.

In addition, those people who _want_ all the traffic won't have to do
any work at all... instead of being forced to subscribe to half a
dozen extra lists as repayment for their interest in helping everyone.

Wez?

> Personally, I subscribed to vnc-list-digest instead of vnc-list, because
> I don't want vnc-emails to pop-up in WinBiff all day long, and because I
> don't expect critical information that can't wait until the evening.
> This already mean I can't simply delete messages I'm not interested in,
> and also that I get the full picture of text+html crap messages.

Yup. It sure does.

> Tagged subjects, even if working, wouldn't help in any way people who
> want daily digests. To me this seems a big limitation.

Possibly.  Get a mail reader, like the Bat, with configurable sounds
for each folder.  Only tag the folders you care about.  _You_ are the
one with the special requirement -- why should _everyone else_ have to
fulfill it?  I'm sorry; I don't mean to sound pissy there...

> Now, my own little suggestion was to keep the current list for the usual
> stuff, but to ADD "vnc-win-only" "vnc-mac-only" etc. lists clearly
> dedicated to single-platform questions (winvnc trayicon, linux fonts
> settings, etc.), so as to help remove all such threads from the current
> list and keep it as slim as possible.

> In that case there is never a need for crossposting, and there should
> practically be not much if all lists and their exact use is clearly
> documented in the automatic reply one get when subscribing.

No, but there was never a need for cross-posting in the _first_ place;
my point was that the lack of necessity will _not_ keep it from
happening.

Digests are usually the wrong answer to the problem.

Cheers,
-- jra
-- 
Jay R. Ashworth                                                jra "at" baylink.com
Member of the Technical Staff     
The Suncoast Freenet
Tampa Bay, Florida     http://baylink.pitas.com                +1 888 806 1654



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