On Mon, 19 Jul 1993 10:47:20 EDT Michael H. Morse said on List-Managers:
>> why is it "listserv@here" and "majordomo@there"; why is it
>> "subscribe list your name" here and "subscribe list your@address"
>> there?  I assume that if it confuses some, it probably confuses
>> others also.
>...
>Intuitively, you might think that there should be agreement on a very
>common command, such as "subscribe".  However, the history is that no
>concensus has been reached, and probably won't be.
>...
>Yes, a syntax could be agree upon that meets all the needs, but
>probably it would be so complex that users would have trouble with it.
 
In that case, it might be more productive to see if there's a way so
that the USERS (ie. subscribers, list-owners, etc) think there's a
consistent syntax as far as THEY are concerned, even if the MLMs
themselves differ enormously.
 
>                                                    Also, there is
>honest disagreement among the authors and list managers as to whether
>"coddling" users is a Good Thing.
 
Computers are tools, just like a hammer, a needle, a spoon.
The prime characteristic of any GOOD tool is that it's designed to
make it easy for the USER to work with.
So IMHO users should be able to type at their keyboard:
   Please accept my subscription to the Listmanagers magazine
and the user's commputer should figure out what it means, where to
send it to, in what format, and what to expect in return.
If that means sending email to <request-List-Managers@...> with:
   Add John Doe
or doing an interactive message to <ListProcessor@...> with:
   SUB List-Managers John Doe
fine, by all means let the USER's computer do so.  Shift the burden
of such stuff to where it really belongs (imho), and let the MLM do
what it's really supposed to do: manage mailing lists.
 
I don't believe this is "coddling users", but simply improving on an
existant product (even if in two parts, like a client-server).
 
 
Regards.
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