[GreenKeys] greenkeys list content survey

Tue Apr 16 17:44:39 EDT 2013

My 2c… I like getting things via email. But I am very worried about the poor search-ability of the archives.  Most folks on this list are getting older every day (except me, of course, I am getting younger) and the knowledge and experience contained in the archive is irreplaceable. More modern forum systems have much better search-ability.  I worry about this data becoming unusable because the search is poor.

I do think some folks are conflating things that should not be conflated. Moving to a different, more modern system, does not necessitate going to any website. You can still receive everything via email if so chosen. It could work just the same for you as it does today. I belong to many yahoogroup lists (not saying that format is the best) and I RARELY go to the website. Its all via email.

But these web-based tools do offer additional capability such as better searching, displaying threads in a more threaded way and other features like photo/files areas etc.

Anyway, I am happy with all of the content in the lists but worry that this content will end up in the bit bucket of history when we’re all gone.

73 Eugene W2HX

From: greenkeys-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:greenkeys-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of gil at baudot.net
Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2013 1:53 PM
To: aaa-greenkeys
Subject: [GreenKeys] greenkeys list content survey

Hi folks:

Lately it seems that I have been hearing (off-list) from some folks who think greenkeys is veering away into too many off-topic posts and general rambling.  Here is a list of those people who complained:

(just kidding)

My personal opinions:

1)  We have a great group of folks here on greenkeys, with a lot of great tty knowledge.

2)  Most of us greenkeys folks also have other areas of expertise, which makes it a good place to post an off-topic thing every now and then -- sometimes an off-topic thread is short-lived, and not a big deal, but sometimes it spirals off into a dissertation that really should be taken off-list by the folks who have an interest.  I occasionally ask a group of folks to take a topic off-list.

3)  Some topics, like old computers, can be directly related to ttys as many PDPs and such used them as terminals.  I find these threads to be very interesting and definitely relevant to greenkeys.

4)  But...something that starts innocently enough as an old computer topic can easily wander off into definite off-topic areas when it moves into general vintage computers, swapping and selling, how much is this worth, here's my hack to dos, terminal servers, visual-basic secrets, who sells floppies these days, what happened to hard-sectored floppies, does anyone have apple ][ proms, and...well, you know.

5)  I am quite guilty of off-topic posts myself.  Sorry.  Hopefully they are of the short-lived variety.  Sometimes you learn something new.  For example, I heard that monkeys peel bananas from the bottom.  Try it -- it's much easier.  See -- learning something new :)  Just don't reply and make it into a dozen-post thread.

6)  We have a diverse group and need to respect that fact.  Politics is to be avoided.  While there is nothing wrong with something patriotic here and there, keep it non-partisan.  It has ballooned into a mess here before, and nobody wins.  Religion, sexual-orientation, general nastiness of any kind -- also to be avoided.

7)  I think the daily-digest is useless.  When folks reply to it and don't change the subject line, it makes it very difficult to follow a thread, and when they leave the entire digest in the email it is ridiculous.

8)  This email list is an old and tired format anyway.  I would rather see a modern forum using phpBB or something, so threads are well-defined, you can choose to subscribe to a thread or not, can choose to get an email notice when there is a new post on a thread you are following, it is easy to branch into a new thread when the topic morphs a bit, and everything is easily search-able.  If you don't want email alerts, you can just go to the main forum page with all the thread topics, see the most-recent posts at the top, check out the ones in which you are interested and ignore the others.  It can be set up with categories that make sense, for example, Model-14-15-19, Model-28, Creed, General-History, TTY-Supplies, Interfacing...and maybe one for Off-Topic :)  I'd be happy to provide hosting space for a more modern greenkeys forum if you guys are interested and someone who knows how to set one up helps out.  Some examples:
http://dangerousprototypes.com/forum/
http://www.ccsinfo.com/forum/
http://www.microchip.com/forums/

But this is YOUR list;  I just manage subscriptions and keep spam out as much as I can.  I don't want to moderate posts, as I think you are all big boys and girls.  I saw a sign as I was taking my son to school this morning that said "Discipline yourself so others don't have to."  I thought that was quite apropos, and a great quote, even with the dodgy grammar.

I would like to get your feedback with an informal survey.  Respond on-list or off-list as you desire.  Off-list responses will be confidential.  Just three simple questions:
A)  What you like about greenkeys.
B)  What you don't like about greenkeys.
C)  What you would change about greenkeys.

thanks,

gil

gil smith
greenkeys moderator
gil at baudot.net<mailto:gil at baudot.net>
www.baudot.net<http://www.baudot.net>
Vaux Electronics: 480-354-5556
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