On 2/8/01 1:56 PM, "Paul K-" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Will add a 2cents. Sorry for the non-snipped context.
And here's your change, sir...
> I'm not
> bothered that there is extra-low traffic here now; I've always felt
> amply enriched by the discussions on various issues. The place *now* is
> not a rotting cave; the latter would be where spammers have taken over.
> I've in the past enjoyed Chuq's posts. IMHO he is ranting today &
> expressing disappointment.
And with these snippets, off I head towards left field, with the crowd in
full chase....
Yes, I ranted earlier today -- and I'm sorry for that. It's what I felt had
to be said, I don't think I said it particularly well. So I'll try again and
see what happens.
I *am* bothered by the low traffic here. The reason I'm bothered is that
there is a huge body of knowledge and experience here, and I hate to see it
laying fallow or going to waste. This is a huge period of innovation, growth
and evolution in the e-mail world, and there are any number of people here
that I think ought to be leading the way in this mainstreaming of e-mail on
the net, and yet the list as a body, and most of the people on it, have
basically opted out and are standing on the sidelines. This bothers and
frustrates me, because this e-mail revolution is happening with or without
them, and without them, it's that much harder to make sure it happens in
good ways. The only thing that's sure is it's going to happen -- is
happening, and frankly, at this point, mostly HAS happened. The major
revolutions are done and settling in, and the next 18 months or so are
evolutionary cleanup and enhancement, so it's sort of too late to be a major
influence on anything.
This list has been quick to gripe about stuff (especially things like
eGroups) -- but slow to actually try to fix stuff, influence it, or try to
build other things that are better. I've fought the fights I could fight,
and won some of them, lost some of them. But it was never a winnable fight
as one person.
Which is one reason why this list got to listen to various rants over the
last couple of years -- because the tidal wave was coming, and I really felt
that the people on this list needed to be out there helping influencing, but
the people here on the list simply weren't interested in getting involved. I
tried to change that.
In retrospect, I handled it badly. When I realized I was acting just like
some of people that I was usually conflicting with here, and justifying it
to myself with the "but god is on my side, so..." rationale, I shut the hell
up about it all. The answer to "no" isn't to ask again louder, and basically
that's what it turned into. My bad. Religious zealotry is bad, even if it's
mine (especially if it's mine)
This place -- on reflection -- is a lot like what was left of the old Usenet
backbone cabal after the rebellion. Lots of knowledge that ought to be put
to use; no motivation to use it, no real interest in having it used. And if
I'd caught the similarities earlier, I'd have probably handled it
differently. Knowledge isn't enough -- there has to be an energy behind it
to make things happen, and the people on this list have all paid their dues
in the trenches. I'll be the first to say that after a while you decide it's
time to back off and pick your fights. I tried to force something I decided
was my fight on everyone else and didn't take no gracefully. My bad.
I think there were places things could have been influenced to good benefit.
Now -- it's all water under the bridge. Maybe next time.
So count me for a dollop of disappointment, a quart of frustration, but also
a slab of realization that what I was expecting was unreasonable. Life moves
on.
I still hope to be able to influence how this all comes together down the
road. I still think we need the people with a clue in there helping to make
things go in the right direction. But instead of trying to imprint that on
this list, I'm moving in other directions. When I'm ready to talk about
those, I will -- and those that want to help can come join. That's how I
should have handled it from the start, and in retrospect, I wasted a lot of
time and effort (our time, our effort) because I didn't. Live and learn.
Hopefully a little more explanation and a little less whine this time.
>>> from one list that I run. In my humble opinion, small specialty
>>> topics are one of the things mailing lists handle very well.
>
> I'm happy to hear this.
I'm currently working on a piece on why mail lists suck for community work.
But like all sweeping generalizations, it's an imperfect rant -- because
that's a place where the mail list works wonderfully; as long as it stays
small and focussed. Unfortunately, I think mail lists scale horribly, and so
you end up with problems sooner or later -- but only if you succeed and grow
your audience. If you suck or fail and stay small.. (grin)
> I hear so much, how good NewsGroups are, but I
> find the NG environment -- tech wise -- is less well-controlled.
NNTP -- the technology -- is a great technology. USENET -- the nework built
on NNTP -- sucks. But NNTP in a non-propogating or limited propogation
system can be very powerful and useful.
It depends on the implementation and administration.
Chuq
--
Chuq Von Rospach, Internet Gnome <http://www.chuqui.com>
[<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> = <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> = <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>]
Yes, yes, I've finally finished my home page. Lucky you.
"He doesn't have ulcers, but he's a carrier."
