[nafex] Changing the list???

["Greg Miller" <gsmiller@cet.com>]

It's been an interesting week as I catch up on email.  There has been some 
discussion regarding changing the list.  There is no perfect solution, and here are my 
concerns.

COST.  The point of cost was raised by members of the NAFEX board.  There was 
some support of the idea that a list funded by NAFEX should be restricted to NAFEX 
members only (with some exceptions for closely allied organizations.)   I'm not sure 
this is an improvement, although this is understandable in that the vast majority of 
NAFEX members do NOT participate in this list, and asking them to fund access for 
nonmembers is beyond the expectationsl of most organizations.  This creates all 
kinds of subscription authentication issues.  I don't know what Larry London would 
charge.  If the board doesn't want to fund the list and there is a charge, are the +/- 
250 list members willing to pay an annual fee for access in exchange for archives 
and no ads?

TOPICALITY.  Although there have been some "off topic" posts (most of which I 
delete after reading the first few) this hasn't been a huge problem.  But one of the 
major forces in the creation of the list was the total drift in subjects when this 
originated as a USENET group.  Will there be someone to keep people on target 
with the ability to remove them?  NOTE:  I haven't banned ANYONE to date, but in a 
wide open system can we count on the same?

ACCESS.  Two issues here are usability and selectivity.  I haven't commented on 
the issue of usability to date (in part because it's worked for me) but Lon added to 
me a Topica list where I never received ONE message and it kept telling him that I 
was an invalid email address.  I don't blame Lon, as he went to extreme efforts to try 
to fix things.  I suspect there are problems with every email service.  As far as 
selectivity, there have been questions since day one on who should be allowed to 
join the list, trying to balance a broad resource of information to support of the 
NAFEX organization.  Needless to say, NAFEX doesn't need to lend its name and 
support to an entity that may serve to erode its membership.  Currently you have to 
be a member of NAFEX, a similar interest group, or highly motivated to find this list.

SEARCHABILITY.  Although net based searchability might sound good, that means 
the email harvesting programs will be able to see your email address.  Get ready for 
some serious spam!  I have an email address that I use for USENET that is used for 
posts only (delete all received mail as 99% is spam) but I would hope I wouldn't 
have to go through that hassle.  

ARCHIVING.  With large disk capacities I save everything I think might be of remote 
interest and use my email program for searches.  There are some posts I really don't 
need to ever see again (e.g., without substantial global warming there are some 
plants that aren't going to grow  in Spokane outside of a greenhouse) or are topics 
not of interest to me.  I don't think it's that big a problem to revisit topics, as that 
pretty much describes the history of the list anyway.

SUPPORT.  Although not too demanding, I do from time to time get questions that 
require human intervention.  That would fall to the new list administrator.

SPECIAL FEATURES.  Although not use by all, Yahoogroups does allow posting of 
pictures or other attachments at the web site.  (I understand this is a problem for 
some.)  But there is no way I am going to open an unsolicited attachment via regular 
email no matter how nice you people might seem to be.

I view myself as the simple caretaker of this list.  I think I have done an OK job so 
far.  I don't get paid and I never expect to.  If the time has come to go to another 
system, I am agreeable, but people should understand that once the change is done 
it is tough to go back, and change doesn't ensure an improvement.  I would suggest 
that at a minimum any change should be free, unpublicized (except through 
POMONA or similar interest group publications), automated, and managable by a 
NAFEX representative.  Larry London's list might fit all of those criteria.

As Dr. Natelson has suggested there should be something substantial to gain before 
changing.  I think that is advice worth following.

Greg Miller

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