Replies to the RFD for comp.lang.java.servlets (so far).
As will become clear, I'm a minimalist not a lawyer :).
My responses are preceeded by "RESPONSE:".
Traffic on mailing list
=======================
From: Ru Igarashi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: 16 Jul 1999 00:00:00 GMT
You imply there is some discussion in the exisiting news groups,
and you provide statistic for the mailing list, yet you do not
have statistics from the existing news groups (which is more
statistically relevant). What are the posting traffic and
apparently interested readership size in the existing news groups?
Also, what is the size of the readership of the mailing list.
It has sufficient traffic, but you need >150 yes votes for a decent
chance of getting the new group.
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (James Driscoll)
Date: 22 Jul 1999 00:00:00 GMT
Last time I checked, there were 1800 people on the list.
From: Kathy Pascoe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: 16 Jul 1999 00:00:00 GMT
How many postings per day on the servlets vs. the rest of the posts?
RESPONSE:
>From the servlet-interest archive I see 1282 messages this last July.
This works out to ~40 messages per day.
Minor edits
===========
From: Kathy Pascoe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: 16 Jul 1999 00:00:00 GMT
Preston L. Bannister wrote:
> This is a formal Request For Discussion (RFD) for the creation of a
> world-wide unmoderated Usenet newsgroup group.name. This is not a
..........................................^^^^^^^^^^
Need to fix that.
RESPONSE:
Updated local copy but won't re-issue RFD just for this :).
Source code text versus binaries?
=================================
From: Kathy Pascoe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: 16 Jul 1999 00:00:00 GMT
> Posting small bug or example programs is welcome and expected.
Might want to clarify that 'example programs' means example program
code, not the binaries. (Unless there aren't binaries; I'm unfamiliar
with this technology).
RESPONSE:
I believe this is covered by the existing statement:
"Binary postings or attachments are not welcome"
Allow some kinds of binaries/attachments?
=========================================
From: Kathy Pascoe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: 16 Jul 1999 00:00:00 GMT
> Binary postings or attachments are not welcome.
It's more common to restrict 'large binaries', rather than a blanket
binary prohibition, because of PGP-sigs and the like.
RESPONSE:
This looks like a semantic sandtrap. A small zip file isn't much
different in size from a long PGP signature. Associating sources and
no binaries in the same paragraph will be clear to most. Adding more
words won't necessarily make things clearer.
I'd rather leave this minimally specified (short and readable).
HTML postings
=============
From: Kathy Pascoe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: 16 Jul 1999 00:00:00 GMT
May also wish to strongly discourage postings in HTML or any other
non-plain-text format.
RESPONSE:
Again I'd rather not over-specify here. This is a variety of general
good practice for Usenet, rather than specific to this newsgroup.
Most everyone I've encountered who posts in HTML does not know that
this is not a good practice, and have been quite willing to change
(given a bit of help).
Adding to the RFD will not change this behavior.
Announcements
=============
From: Kathy Pascoe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: 16 Jul 1999 00:00:00 GMT
> Announcements of new products or services related to the Java
> Servlet API will be allowed.
Might want to indicate a timeframe (no more than once per month) as a
guideline, even though you can't enforce such stuff in an unmoderated
group.
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (James Driscoll)
Date: 22 Jul 1999 00:00:00 GMT
Generally, they've been well behaved on the list - note he said *new*
products and services - on the list, they usually post once, and
actively participate in the discussions. Still, as you say, they'll
do what they want anyway.
RESPONSE:
Again I'd prefer to leave this minimally specified. As long as the
item is truly "new" posting more often than once a month might be OK.
Changes in the JSDK, JWSDK or Jakarta might update often at times.
Job postings
============
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (James Driscoll)
Date: 22 Jul 1999 00:00:00 GMT
I'd also like to see a prohibition against job postings. Recruiters
chased me off the database ng's long ago, and I haven't forgotten the
experience.
RESPONSE:
Good point though it's pretty hard to imagine a job posting fitting
in with the first paragraph of the charter. My take is to make this
explicit if re-issuing the RFD for another reason but not otherwise.
Java Server Pages (JSP)
=======================
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (James Driscoll)
Date: 22 Jul 1999 00:00:00 GMT
You may wish to also mention something about related technologies like
JSP. If you don't, it'll be up in the air.
RESPONSE:
Good point though there is a somewhat open-ended list of other
strongly servlet-related technologies (structured HTML generation like
WebMacro and HtmlScreen come immediately to mind) in addition to JSP.
Since this is a fuzzy set, my take is to leave this under-specified.
SUMMARY
=======
I don't believe any of the above is cause re-issue the RFD.
Reasoned and differing opinions are of course welcome :).
--
Preston L. Bannister
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
(949)588-0872
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