I don't know if Eric has had a change of heart since his declaration of
frustration last Saturday.  I certainly count myself as one who hopes
that Eric will stay and continue to work with us and LISTSERV.  I don't
have any new or different ideas about how to resolve back-level servers;
I tend to agree with those that argue that only current-level servers
(or servers that intend to upgrade almost immediately) should be asked
(allowed?) to be part of the backbone.
 
Instead of trying to persuade Eric to stay, though, I'd like to ask
about the other case- if Eric does decide to use LISTSERV just for his
own purposes without involving the rest of us?  Will someone of the
rest of us please make PEERS NAMES and LINKSWT FILE available some
place for AFD?  I can't volunteer to do it; I shall shortly be leaving
the net, and I am in no position to "volunteer" my successor.
Some of us have already done a lot to help Eric, especially in the
States; if Eric does decide to withdraw from this, I would hope that
they or others would attempt to coordinate network wide LISTSERV issues,
such as how link weights should be divied up, and make those decisions
available, perhaps by an AFD process or through a list such as this.
 
Eric, if you stay, I thank you for your continued help and effort. If
you leave, I thank you for what you have already given us; it is very
signifigant in what it has already done.
 
Nick