RE: Farewell to UT's vectorlist

And we've just lost Joe, who is also one of the best contributors to the
list. Anybody (including Joe, Clay, and Al) who leaves a list over a silly
issue like this is not being terribly mature, in my opinion. We're getting
in a tizzy over *nothing* - literally nothing.

I am not dissolving the list out of spite - I want what's best for
vectorlist, and splitting the same content between two lists isn't it. The
commerce rule as it was "in the good old days" was just fine by me. I
understand Joe's discomfort with the feeling that he was granting special
priveleges to Clay and others, though, and think that a separate list for
commerce is the best solution. Honestly, if nobody would subscribe to such
a list, what's the need for commerce on vectorlist? I suppose it's a moot
point, since Neil and the Mostly Unnamed But Very Important Vectorlisters
have decided to make a decision unilaterally. Great democracy there, Neil
and others. The nice thing about a list vs. Usenet is precisely that it's
not a truly free forum for expression. The topic of a list must be kept in
mind, lest the loudest, not most useful, get the most attention. Go to
RGVAC if you want truly unfettered expression.

I'm frustrated, obviously, but I'm not going to let this consume me in any
way. I'll resume my lurking over on your server, Neil.

- Paul

-----Original Message-----
From: Neil Bradley [mailto:neil@synthcom.com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2000 2:36 PM
To: vectorlist@lists.cc.utexas.edu
Subject: RE: Farewell to UT's vectorlist

> A list isn't a democracy - and the list owners have as much right to
> retire from the field as the list readers. For better or for worse, the
> guard appears to have changed today. It's now up to *all* of us to make
> sure the new vectorlist meets the high standards set by the old one.

I do believe a mailing list is a democracy, not the personal whim of the
single list maintainer. A mailing list should be set up to serve the
majority of people that use it, and to be accomodating to make the most
number of listmembers happy. What else is it there for?

There is a happy medium, here. This argument is as old as the hills, and
the solutions are simple. But it's a really, really sad day when we see
Clay and Al leave since they are some of the best contributors to the
list.

-->Neil

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Neil Bradley            Synthcom home : http://www.synthcom.com
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