From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Mon Dec 18 10:57:04 2006 Return-Path: X-Original-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [69.147.83.52]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id D6C8816A47E for ; Mon, 18 Dec 2006 10:57:04 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from keramida@ceid.upatras.gr) Received: from igloo.linux.gr (igloo.linux.gr [62.1.205.36]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C338A43C9F for ; Mon, 18 Dec 2006 10:55:38 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from keramida@ceid.upatras.gr) Received: from kobe.laptop (host5.bedc.ondsl.gr [62.103.39.229]) (authenticated bits=128) by igloo.linux.gr (8.13.8/8.13.8/Debian-3) with ESMTP id kBIAjOLr007311 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA bits=256 verify=NOT); Mon, 18 Dec 2006 12:45:35 +0200 Received: from kobe.laptop (kobe.laptop [127.0.0.1]) by kobe.laptop (8.13.8/8.13.8) with ESMTP id kBIAixJL001521; Mon, 18 Dec 2006 12:45:17 +0200 (EET) (envelope-from keramida@ceid.upatras.gr) Received: (from keramida@localhost) by kobe.laptop (8.13.8/8.13.8/Submit) id kBI243bX002641; Mon, 18 Dec 2006 04:04:03 +0200 (EET) (envelope-from keramida@ceid.upatras.gr) Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 04:04:03 +0200 From: Giorgos Keramidas To: wc_fbsd@xxiii.com Message-ID: <20061218020402.GB2552@kobe.laptop> References: <20061211185718.E5F0616A56A@hub.freebsd.org> <20061211220901.GB69273@ns.umpquanet.com> <20061211175301.17B7.GERARD@seibercom.net> <6.2.3.4.2.20061212153306.0321bc30@mailsvr.xxiii.com> <000801c71e50$93fc9750$3c01a8c0@coolf89ea26645> <6.2.3.4.2.20061212230551.0319fb30@mailsvr.xxiii.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <6.2.3.4.2.20061212230551.0319fb30@mailsvr.xxiii.com> X-Hellug-MailScanner: Found to be clean X-Hellug-MailScanner-SpamCheck: not spam, SpamAssassin (not cached, score=-2.969, required 5, ALL_TRUSTED -1.80, AWL 0.26, BAYES_00 -2.60, DATE_IN_PAST_06_12 0.50, DNS_FROM_RFC_ABUSE 0.20, FIN_FREE 0.47) X-Hellug-MailScanner-From: keramida@ceid.upatras.gr X-Spam-Status: No Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: List Protocol (was: Major Version Upgrade 4.11 to 5.x) X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 10:57:05 -0000 On 2006-12-12 23:10, wc_fbsd@xxiii.com wrote: >At 07:49 PM 12/12/2006, Ted Mittelstaedt wrote: >> The reason that questions doesen't require a subscription ought to be >> obvious to anyone with any experience with FreeBSD. >> questions@freebsd.org is used as the default contact e-mail address for >> most non-financial FreeBSD dealings, such as on CD cases, > > NOPE. Disagree Completely. You are way out of touch. Those people > don't comprehend a "mailing list". They do "web pages" and "web forums" > and other clumsy devices. Put it on www.freebsd.org if you want it > easily accessible to such people. The list *is* mentioned on the web site as the place to ask general FreeBSD questions, already :-/ As I wrote elsethread, I don't find the style of Ted's post very nice, but we should definitely find a way to clarify why this list is open. The freebsd-questions mailing is is not the same as freebsd-hackers, or freebsd-rc, or other much more technical lists. It is being used as a first contact point, both for technical and non-technical people. Some of the less technical posters may find subscribing before posting strange or even completely incomprehensible. These users will be lost to FreeBSD, if we start making a subscription mandatory. t is for the sake of these, non-technical, users that the list is kept open to posts for anyone. To the long-time subscribers of the list, letting any random average Joe User post, seems silly. This is mostly a result of seeing posts by people who are not acquainted at all with FreeBSD, who don't even know that FreeBSD is not a Linux distribution, or any number of other points which may be irritating for us long-time FreeBSD users. This is a 'sacrifice' which is not totally worthless though. Let me explain why. Keeping the list is not as silly as it may initially seem to be. The list and its openness serve their purpose quite fine, since they lets newcomers to FreeBSD ask questions with a minimum of hassle, and receive answers which are very often characterized by the very same aspects which keep long-time subscribers still posting here: * The answers are usually to the point, correct, technically valid, complete (even including examples) * The answers are from people who are already using FreeBSD, and most of the time know their stuff * The answers start coming in pretty soon after the initial post (this is a side-effect of having subcribers around the globe, from almost all timezones) * The answers often include pointers to more documentation, to which the interested new user may refer for more details All these are qualities which are not strictly related to the openness of the list. When combined with the openness of teh list, though, they form the nucleus of what initially keeps a lot of new users around. I know it is what kept *me* around, what kept a lot of the FreeBSD users I personally know around, and I can only guess, but I'm fairly confident that the same applies to a huge amount of the people who have posted here during their first baby-steps with FreeBSD. - Giorgos