Subject: Re: No subjects are nice
From: CBFalconer <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 13 Nov 2002 18:35:49 -0500

Christopher Faylor wrote:
> On Wed, Nov 13, 2002 at 12:38:56PM -0800, Jake D. Stern wrote:
>
> > [This is a bug report, I'm following cygwin reporting instructions
> > by posting here.  The subject line has been changed so as to not
> > be refused. Original subject line: "xterm consumes 100% cpu when
> > first XWin action is to close xterm."]
> 
> The fact that your subject was blocked didn't give you enough of a
> clue that you were doing something wrong, eh?  The mind boggles.
> 
> We HAVE A MAILING LIST for Cygwin/XFree86 discussions.  Use it.
> 
> FYI, I've blocked this subject too.  I can keep this up all day if
> you want.

<rant>
>From my standpoint this habit of blocking arbitrary subjects
defeats the purpose of a mailing list in the first place.  It
essentially puts one person in place as arbiter.  The user has no
idea whether or not his subject is "on the list".

It would be much easier if the various lists were echoed to usenet
in the first place.  They could even be moderated groups.   Adding
a mailing list to someones setup requires both subscribing (after
hearing about it in the first place) and setting up suitable
e-mail filters.  Having done so the e-mail volume increases
substantially, with much greater likelihood of filling an ISPs
assigned storage.  Generally a pain.

In addition I found very early that the searching provisions
either don't function or are non-intuitive.  It is much easier to
search newsgroups on google.  I gave up long ago on finding out
why 'reply-to considered bad on cygwin list'.

Also consider that e-mail and newsgroups can be generally operated
off-line.  Reading something that simply suggests a search is
counter-productive, especially when a one or two line response
would largely cover it.

c.l.c sticks pretty closely to the topic, with exceptions, and
raises hackles.  However the hackles raised are generally of the
clueless - here the irritation seems to be unrestricted, and only
old hands appear to be welcome.  Again, with notable exceptions.

I concede that my viewpoint is not yours, and neither are my
priorities.  
</rant>

-- 
Chuck F ([email-masked]) ([email-masked])
   Available for consulting/temporary embedded and systems.
   <http://cbfalconer.home.att.net>  USE worldnet address!

--
Unsubscribe info:      http://cygwin.com/ml/#unsubscribe-simple
Bug reporting:         http://cygwin.com/bugs.html
Documentation:         http://cygwin.com/docs.html
FAQ:                   http://cygwin.com/faq/