First, our corporate firewall does not allow access to newsgroups, and I
don't see that changing any time soon. I know there are HTML methods for
reading newsgroups too, but they are not very user friendly.
Second, I like the ability to get information SENT to me, rather than go
FETCH it.
Third, there already is a threaded archive (very much like a newsgroup)
already hosted at MapInfo's site.
Fourth, I save certain messages in my e-mail folders for future use. With a
newsgroup, this would take extra steps to save the file as (whatever format)
then navigate to the appropriate folders.
I don't see a newsgroup as being an improvement.
Steve E. Wallace
GIS & Market Information Manager
Florida Farm Bureau Insurance Companies
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Thoen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "MapInfo-L" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Friday, March 17, 2000 04:14 PM
Subject: MI Do we want to create a MapInfo Newsgroup?
> Recently, several people have asked me if we should consider
> starting a MapInfo Usenet newsgroup in addition to (or instead
> of) the mailing list we use now. I thought I'd toss it out for
> discussion and see what everyone thinks.
>
> First of all, Usenet newsgroups take a little effort to set up.
> We would need someone who has access to a newsgroup server who
> would volunteer to be the "maintainer" (this would not be me; I
> have too much going on as it is right now).
>
> After we get the initial issues sorted out here, the official
> Usenet process starts with formal a Request for Discussion (RFD)
> on news.announce.newgroups, then we need to find a volunteer site
> to tabulate votes, then there's a call for votes. If we get
> enough votes (and people outside the MapInfo community can and
> will vote too, so you need to be coherent and persuasive in
> laying out your arguments) then the maintainer can start posting
> the messages to servers to start propagating the newsgroup across
> the world.
>
> Getting a slot in the "Big 8" hierarchies makes propagation very
> easy, but you have to have the votes. The process can take 2-3
> months. A quicker route is to create it under the alt or other
> non-big8 hierarchy. That's faster to get started, but much more
> difficult to get widespread coverage because many servers won't
> carry alt newsgroups unless specifically asked (and even then
> they still might not; alt groups are known for carrying a lot of
> worthless twaddle).
>
> For more info on the process see the news.newusers.questions FAQ
> or read news.groups for a while or go read about it at
> http://www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/Lab/6882/ncreate.html.
>
> There's plenty of arguments pro and con, but I don't want to sway
> people one way of another at this point. Post your comments
> publicly, and if there's anyone out there who wants to offer to
> be a maintainer/moderator and champion the cause, throw your hats
> in the ring!
>
> For everyone's information, there are currently 1143 subscribers
> on MapInfo-L. Some of those are gateways and many people read
> MapInfo-L from various web mirrors, so I don't really know how
> many "eyes" really read this list. My guess is that to get the
> votes to create a big 8 hierarchy like comp.infosystems.mapinfo,
> or sci.geo.mapinfo or whatever, you will need to really get the
> vote out. Typically, 1200 people is a small group by usenet
> standards, but it's an active one!
>
> If you have an opinion or some interest in getting involved,
> speak up! For those of you on mirror sites, remember that the
> list address is [EMAIL PROTECTED]; you don't have to be a
> subscriber to post your opinions.
>
> - Bill Thoen
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> To unsubscribe from this list, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put
> "unsubscribe MAPINFO-L" in the message body, or contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from this list, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put
"unsubscribe MAPINFO-L" in the message body, or contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
