> So Mr. Beesley and anyone else who hadn't read the Forum, whatever their > reasons, _didn't yet know that a major Primenet server software change > had already been discussed in the recent past and had practically been > decided-upon_, because none of that Forum discussion had been reported > to the Mersenne mailing list. > > ***** > > It looks to me like we have the potential for a major information schism > between the Forum-haves and Forum-have-nots, if there continue to be > major Forum discussions that go unreported to the Mersenne mailing list. > > ***** > > What should/can be done to ensure that those who can't/don't read the > Forum are alerted to, and can contribute to, important topics discussd > on the GIMPS Forum and are informed of important announcements/decisions > posted on the Forum?
Well, to be honest, not much more can be done... As it is now, we have several mechanisms in place to enable people with dialup access the ability to log on and get done right quick... 1) There are no heavy graphics usage... (If I were paying for access I'd have graphics turned off anyways!) 2) Everything is GZIP compressed... 3) You can have email notifications of new posts... I was stuck on dialup for a week recently and was able to keep up with the forum with just 5 minutes of reading a day... And I don't read all that fast... And it was a 33.6 connection... Anyways, the guiding philosophy to the forum is "Keep it simple!"... The only area we could cut back is the avatars, but most browsers will cache those, so they are only an issue when you first encounter them... It might surprise those who have never visited the forum that we have over 2800 messages, and they are mostly on topic and they are instantly searchable... I know that I have learned a bunch, especially in the math forum... BTW, don't forget about the GIMPS IRC party tonight... http://www.teamprimerib.com/gimps/viewtopic.php?t=309 :) Mike (Xyzzy) _________________________________________________________________________ Unsubscribe & list info -- http://www.ndatech.com/mersenne/signup.htm Mersenne Prime FAQ -- http://www.tasam.com/~lrwiman/FAQ-mers
