> -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On > Behalf Of Sonja van Baardwijk-Holten
... > I (as in me, myself as a person ;o)) don't like more rules and > regulations, so I > feel it isn't a good idea. But as I said, it is Nick's list so he _can_ do > whatever he likes. I don't see this as *my* list, even though it operates via server. That's why I don't use the phrase "list owner," but "list manager" instead. I regard that role as stewardship, not ownership. I have a greater ability to do damage to the list, but just as it managed to migrate from Cornell to my server, it could migrate again. I'd be kidding myself if I thought I could do anything I want. When list managers, like other community leaders, forget that they are accountable to the community, they often lose their leadership position. I've certainly seen that happen more than once. This is not a democracy, but that doesn't mean it is totalitarian. It's far closer to anarchy than either of those, and we have some strong voices calling for it to remain so. Seeing your later posting, I should add that several people have asked, all off-list IIRC, for a discussion of Jeroen's legal notice, which I find bothersome, too. At the risk of being paternalistic, I'll note that some people were quietly following a policy of not ever replying to a message with that notice, and I wasn't sure that Jeroen even realized. But many have spoken up along those line since we began the discussion. I feel like adding a reminder that anyone can start a new list... but get a creepy notion that that's something like Bill Gates saying that anyone is free to write their own operating system. This particular list, like Windows, has momentum that takes it out of the realm of pure regulation by competition, into a zone where one should adopt an attitude of stewardship. Clay Shirky's essay, which The Fool posted to the list, is evidence that there are natural barriers to competition -- another reason not to imagine that anyone owns the phenomenon that is a list. Nick _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
