On Sat, 18 Feb 1995 21:09:49 -0500 Norm Aleks said:
>[Chris Barnes]
>> It's my gut feeling that more and more Listserv lists will be mirrored by
>> Usenet groups.
>
>I'm going totally off the thread here ...  I sure hope you're wrong, Chris.
>The difference  in s/n ratios  between USENET and  mailing lists amazes me.
>One big  reason, of  course, is that  newsreaders  offer every newsgroup to
>every schmuck in  the  world ("press y to  subscribe"),  whereas  joining a
>mailing list requires  a little more  up-front commitment.  Another is that
>MLM's usually send some sort of welcome message to the user, describing the
>purpose of the list & appropriate behavior -- sort of a just-in-time FAQ.
 
 
Perhaps you're right, but my Usenet group is moderated, so the s/n ratio
is actually better than the mailing list norm.  I've got a new newsgroup
proposal in that I intend to set up as moderated, but have the moderator
be an 'open' listserv list.  This way posts can be distributed as soon
as they are sent, but if a problem person appears, they can be dealt
with.
 
------------------------------------------------------------------
Chris Barnes                                 (409) 846-3273 (home)
[log in to unmask]                        (409) 845-9520 (work)
 
If you want to make life easier for novice computer users, do NOT give
them a restricted menu.  A restricted menu is simply the lazy way to
avoid teaching them what they really need to know in the first place.