On Sunday 23 May 2010, Peter Humphrey wrote: > On Sunday 23 May 2010 12:21:39 Etaoin Shrdlu wrote: > > It would be great if mailing list software could be configured so > > that only users who demonstrate they know how to unsubscribe could > > subscribe in the first place. Example: > > > > - user subscribes > > - mailing list replies: "please unsubscribe and subscribe again" > > - if user fails to do so within a configurable amount of time, > > forcibly unsubscribe him > > - if user succeeds, leave him subscribed after the second > > subscription. > > And how often would you impose refresher tests? Anyone's memory is > fallible, as no-one knows better than I do. > > Better for this purpose would be to require all mailing lists to operate > in the same way, but that's equally unlikely, as well as undesirable.
I would be in favour of that. As I said, many things we do in our lives require active proofs of minimal clue, be it once or periodical. The need is greater if those activities involve people other than you. It's just common sense. In many cases, cluelessness harms; the consequences can be very serious (think driving a car without a licence), moderately serious (for example, setting up unsecured wi-fi), or just annoying (mailing list). So yes, it's not a big deal, it's just annoying to (some of) the other subscribers; but nonetheless,in my opinion participating in a mailing list could require proof of minimal clue. In most cases, it doesn't; I'm not going to start an argument for this, but hopefully one is still allowed to express his opinion. And of course nobody wants you to remeber everything, which would be silly. But having a clue means that you know how to find the information when you need it (in most cases, that means nothing more than you are able to read the instructions; most people seem unable to do even something that simple). In the specific case of the Gentoo mailing lists, it would probably help to append the list instructions at the bottom of each message (as many other lists do), rather than having it only in the headers. Now, people can flame me as much as they want, I won't reply. I just expressed my views, and other people are obviously perfectly free to disagree. > > Just saying... > > What does that mean? I had a mother-in-law once who often added it to a > critical remark, and I never understood what she meant by it either. One minute of google turns up http://painintheenglish.com/?p=958 http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=i%27m%20just%20sayin%27
