Re: NOT!! Re:Hello From A New Member

Hi Ian, 

Forward this to your son if you would.

To the rest of Iris-L feel free to use the delete key, I apologize if
you think this response is an inappropriate use of the list.

Avocet (Actually Brian his son, not a member of the list) wrote:
> 
>                 Hi,
>         I guess you all aren't up on the technology/etiquette of mailing
> lists.  Messages like this one (sorry John!) are clearly being posted
> UNECESSARILY as I am sure not all hundred odd want to know of your
> personal welcome to this member.  A personal reply is far more
> considerate to the rest of the WORLD trying to use this communication
> tool.  As a visitor to my parents house and an avid computer freak I am
> amazed at some of the.....stuff people post and therefore deliver to
> hundreds of people.
>    As I have argued with Ian, this mailing list is flawed from the start
> as it is NOT an appropriate use of a mailing list, IT IS A NEWSGROUP!!!

Actually, we don't want to be a newsgroup which is open to anyone who
wants to look. It is properly referred to as a Reflector or Listserver.
Sometimes referred to as a List. Lists (or Reflectors), as opposed to
newsgroups, require one to subscribe. The list owner or manager has the
capability to moderate who is allowed to join, thus enabling us to keep
off individuals using inappropriate language, spammers etc. As an "avid
computer freak" I am sure you are aware of all the junk mail and other
problems suffered by typical newsgroups. We haven't had any of those
problems because we are not a newsgroup. "Appropriate use of a mailing
list"??? Certainly is, works just like ones I use for business. Heaven
forbid anyone should ever use a "tool" for something other than that
which it was originally designed (that was sarcasm in case you missed
it).

As to welcoming new members, since the inception of this list it has
been an unwritten protocol to welcome people new the list or newly
emerged from lurking. One or two people will reply with a welcome. We
feel that it is part of the personality of our group. We also try to
keep personal messages to a minimum out of consideration for others. So
we find a middle ground, and frankly, I think the most of us do not mind
the few welcome messages that go out.

Flawed or not according to your standards, named properly or not, it is
ours and it seems to be working for us. I have been an active member
since almost its inception and seen it grow to almost 280 members (not a
hundred odd). We have lost very few, so our protocol can't be all that
bad. I have over twenty years in the computer industry, although most on
our list do not have that kind of experience. We are just here to share
experiences.

If you want to lower the load on the WORLD net then go figure out a way
to stop the spammers. The load we add to the volume of traffic pales to
insignificance by comparison.

Bruce also wrote:

> Hi All,
>         Not in the best form to be critical with-out offering assistance.
> I will be more than happy to help set the group up as a Newsgroup.  Some
> Newsgroups have WEB pages with pictures and articles from the collective
> source.  Monthly 'rags' are often good WEB page models.  Surf around and
> get some ideas.  http://www.boxtop.com is pretty well the ultimate WEB
> site.  Irises are a good basic topic...what else is of interest?

I am sorry we don't fit in the box you want to put us in. If others want
to from a Newsgroup I am sure there are others on the list with plenty
of expertise to do that.

If you have other comments on this matter please mail them directly to
me instead of the list.
---

John                     | "There be dragons here"
                         |  Annotation used by ancient cartographers
                         |  to indicate the edge of the known world.
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