On Fri, 15 Jan 1993 18:02:54 PST, Richard Everman said:
 
>I'm not a list owner.  Why not?  Because I don't know enough about the LISTSERV
>process.  That is why I subscribed to LSTOWN-L:  to learn.  I find it
>incredulous that anybody would take on such a task as managing a LISTSERV
>without first paying his or her dues -- learning the Internet and LISTSERV.
>(Am I missing something here?  Is there an easy way to learning this
>stuff -- one without me having to waste my time doing homework?)
>
>Richard
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I am a list owner, and I agree largely with what Richard says, but I
think we need to cut the less experienced a little slack.  I thought I
knew a fair bit about the internet and discussion lists, but it
was only after I had started NETTRAIN that I learned, for instance,
that "listserv" was not a generic term, but a specific piece of
software (which of course was not available at the site where I
started my list).
 
My point is that there is a a tremendous gray area between "experts"
and neophytes on the Internet, and (fortunately) there is still not
"certificaton" that stamps one as an expert.  The Internet, like
technology in general, changes so fast that we are all learning
constantly--even the "experts."
 
Certainly there are a wealth of documents and other resources
available on the Internet, and probably most questions asked on
this list and many others are answered somewhere--but how is the
relative neophyte to know where, unless they ask?  Surely it is
not too great a burden on a discussion list to allow a few
basic questions now and then, even if they are repeated more than
some would like.  A lot of traffic is generated alongside
most discussion lists, and frequently someone asking an FAQ may
receive an answer from another relative neophyte who has just
recently learned that answer him or herself.  Nobody has to
reply to any message, after all.
 
Jim Milles
Saint Louis University Law Library
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