Date: Fri, 04 Sep 1998 00:38:53 +0300 From: Yoav Cohen-Sivan <ycs@netvision.net.il> To: freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Better SNR suggestion for the mailing lists Message-ID: <35EF0C6D.C3ACAD5F@netvision.net.il>
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This is a bit long, bear with me - it comes from the heart. I've recently switched over to FreeBSD and have been lurking on the mailing lists for about a week or two. I see many people are discontent with the degradation of the SNR. I see developers fleeing certain mailing lists, especially -hackers since it seems to attract lots of inappropriate questions. Basically, I am seeing the beginnings of the Linux anarchy that drove me away, to what seemed an orderly place. Recent posts on -hackers have me scared. I don't want FreeBSD to deteriorate. I refuse to keep running from chaos and switching OSes as soon as they reach "critical user mass". My suggestion is to change most of the mailing lists to a "can't post for a week after you subscribe" mode. Anybody who is serious enough about a subject will lurk for a while just to get a feel, anyway. We can leave -questions, -newbies, -chat and -advocacy open. The latter two are meant for this kind of drivel. We definetely don't want to discourage newcomers by forcing them to wait a week for any help, so -questions and -newbies must stay open. People there should expect many "stupid" questions, that's why they are there helping. After subscribing to any other mailing list, the return notice from majordomo should explain that the subscriber is locked from posting for a week. I suggested the same about a year ago on some Linux lists and was attacked for trying to become a "Net Police". With the current state of affairs, I am sure a few of those people would now accept my suggestion with open arms. The pros here are obvious: we put an end to that knee-jerk reaction of "I just got stuck. Quick! Where is the nearest mail client?". No more people having a question, not bothering to check the charters out, subscribing to the first list they see and posting the same questions over and over again. We promote the "teach a man to fish, don't give him a fish" philosophy I see Jordan pushing again and again. After a week of lurking on a list, most anyone with a brain will get a feel for what is appropriate there, even if they haven't yet read the Handbook. And if someone can endure a week of -hackers or -current just to post a silly question - well, they've earned it ;-) As I said, the mess in the Linux scene drove me to look for something better. FreeBSD seems to fill that need. I like the order imposed by a core and committers etc. Let's keep it this way. I would very much like to at least lurk on discussions going on between people much more knowledgeable than I. I would love to lurk on architecture and design talks between core members. If they move to private lists because of too many "where is the power switch" questions, I am fubared. Yoav To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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