I'm glad this discussion regarding the future of Bitnet and Listserv has
come up.  I've been wondering what will happen when (presumably) NREN becomes
ubiquitous in the U.S.
 
One thing we still don't know, I gather, is whether the initial implementation
of the high-speed NREN will be for the restricted high-level scientific
research community or whether it will go as the popular "information super-
highway" available to all levels of education, including kindergarten.
 
It has occurred to me that if school kids start running wild over the net
(not likely, because that could foul up the intended purpose of NREN), then a
reserved academic haven like Bitnet would certainly continue to have its place
in the world.  And yes, there are those gateways anyway.
 
Also, the Internet is going increasingly commercial, another possibility for
keeping Bitnet as a safe academic haven.  Or is that the sure path to strang-
ling oneself?
 
Eric, I believe you said once before that you had no objection to Listserv
being rewritten for other platforms as long as you didn't have to do it.
Would that go also for porting it to the Internet/NREN?  As both listowner
and list member (Bitnet and Internet, not Usenet), I consider Listserv to be
a jewel - sometimes a little rough around the edges, but much superior to
any other method of list management that I've encountered.  It's hard for me
to imagine NREN hosting forums without a fully empowered, real Listserv,
although newsgroups might be a possibility.  Remembering your earlier analogy
likening Listserv forums to traveling in a car vs. newsgroups to traveling in
a train or other public transportation, I suspect there will be a continuing
demand for Revised Listserv, and not just on Bitnet.
 
The times are a-changing, for sure, and it *will* be interesting to see what
happens.
 
Kathryn Wright
Indiana State University