On 11/10/10 17:52, James Wilde wrote: > > On Oct 11, 2010, at 17:09 , Vic Dura wrote: > >> On Mon, 11 Oct 2010 13:37:14 +0100, Mike Scott >> <[email protected]> wrote Re Re: [users] Upgrading to 3.2.1: >> >>>> Does this list server allow non-subscribers to post messages? If so, >>> >>> yes. A policy of occasional controversy >> >> Well that's interesting. I don't believe I've ever encountered a list >> server that allowed posts by non-members. I can understand the >> controversy. > > So can I. But if it came to a vote, I'd vote to continue this practice. > There are thousands of technical illiterates out there who might find their > way to OOo, and to the various help alternatives, and not realise that they > might be expected to subscribe. Subscribe to many people still means paying > money for a subscription. They fire off a mail, and hope for a response. > They may just have one problem, and if they get help, they're done. So they > have a way to get help without having to join the list and get six jillion > messages a day on a bad day on subjects they're not interested in. > > And when they come back for another question, maybe then they'll join and > join in. I'd rather be helpful to the occasional non-member than make this > an exclusive club. > > Just my 2c. > > //James
I can quite see your point, but - strictly IMO, of course - it really does cause significant hassle to the list to allow unsubscribed contributions to appear. You actually can have it both ways though. I've suggested before and will do so again - you can have a scheme where subscribed addresses are allowed onto the list, as now; unsubscribed ones would be diverted to some sort of AI system (instead of a moderator) that (a) tells them of the benefits of subscribing (and offers to do so by 'return of post'), while (b) it also attempts to provide an answer from a database of the [most common|most useful|easiest] q&a's. That way, list members don't keep addressing the same (often trivial except to the newcomer) queries, such as about install or file association, yet the system still offers a useful service to newbies (quite likely even answering their question quicker than now). And people's valuable time could be spent addressing the harder (and more interesting, even!) problems. Jut my 2d worth. -- Mike Scott Harlow, Essex, England --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
