6386 users mailing list

[Bill Kennedy]

References: <784 at m10ux.UUCP> <Dec.8.17.25.54.1988.3915 at paul.rutgers.edu> <1749 at edison.GE.COM>

In article <1749 at edison.GE.COM>, rja at edison.GE.COM (rja) writes:
> In article <272 at ssbn.WLK.COM>, bill at ssbn.WLK.COM (Bill Kennedy) writes:
[ deleting Dave Berk's suggestion for a newsgroup and my comment that the
  63xx mailing list people don't want one ]

> I think the objection comes in part from fear of losing the currently
> wonderful signal-to-noise ratio.

He's quite right, the S/N is very good and I'd love to take credit for it
but I can't.  The questions and contributions are exceptionally well done,
all I do is pack 'em up and send 'em on.  I do deflect some often asked
questions and I deflect discussions away from people who don't want to hear
them (e.g. DOS oriented people don't have to read about UNIX) but the credit
goes to the membership.  One reason that has been expressed from time to
time is the inability of some to get usenet at all.

> I'd like to suggest that perhaps it
> would be a useful service to digest the articles and post a weekly
> digest for each list or them all together.

That's a good suggestion and that's why I'm taking netwidth to follow
it up.  I learned this morning that there *IS* a 6386 mailing list.
BITNET people should send mail to LISTSERV at VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU and include
a line that says  SUBSCRIBE ATT386-L <your full name>.  The coordinator
is David Lyle, uiucuxc!uxg.cso.uiuc.edu!ifnxdml.  I have written him so
that we can coordinate the two or maybe consolidate somehow but mostly
avoid overlap and duplication.  There are about twenty new people on the
63xx list this week, we appreciate the response.

> The folks who run the
> AT&T 3Bx (not 3B1, but all the rest) list started doing so and that
> has been helpful to folks who get news but don't have good mail 
> connections.
> 
> rja at edison.ge.com / ...uunet!virginia!edison!rja

I think that this is probably a good thing.  There are two chores that
need to be done.  Someone would have to propose the group and conduct
the discussion and vote.  Note the followup to news.groups.  I will be
more than glad to collect the material that comes into and goes out of
the list I coordinate and I'm sure that David would too.  Someone would
have to digestify and post it (I've got my hands full with what I have).

I think it's appropriate to make the suggestion here and then move the
results to news.groups to see if it should go farther.  I think that
something like the IBM PC digest or comp.risks would be very useful and
would reach more people than we do with the mailing lists.
-- 
Bill Kennedy  usenet      {killer,att,cs.utexas.edu,sun!daver}!ssbn!bill
              internet    bill at ssbn.WLK.COM