Multiple Lists: Another View

[Judy Perry]

I struggle with this question as well.  While I think a separate
non-programmer/Dreamcard list might be a good thing (so that they do not
become overwhelmed by geekspeak), sometimes repeated exposure to it is not
necessarily bad in the long run.

Besides which, it's not entirely clear to me why people not wishing to be
bothered with "Why 10 hours for newbies..." or "What's a variable?" types
of posts cannot simply use the delete key...

Judy

On Sat, 4 Sep 2004, Dan Shafer wrote:

> It will come as no surprise to those who know me that I find myself not
> quite 100% in favor of the new move to splinter our community into
> multiple special-interest lists. I've seen this happen before and
> although it dramatically increases efficiency, it dramatically
> decreases community cohesion and camaraderie.
>
> I'm not opposed to *some* fragmentation along fairly broad lines. But I
> think creating special lists to discuss SQL or text processing or
> animation would be a mistake.
>
> One of the problems is that new people often have trouble figuring out
> which list to ask a question. As a result, they either go away
> bewildered and lost (and become non-users) or they cross-post to every
> list they think might  be able to help (and thereby incur the wrath of
> those who see the separation of lists for efficiency as a Good Thing).
> I particularly don't like the idea of creating lists of newbies and
> "experienced users." Exactly when does one cross that line? And how
> many experienced users will end up, in the long run, being willing to
> monitor the newbie list where the same question will inevitably be
> raised multiple times?
>
> This community is not yet so large -- and this list is not yet so busy
> -- that we can't stay together on one list, in my view. I'm as busy as
> anyone out there, I suspect, and I find time to monitor traffic and be
> fairly active.
>
> If there *is* a need for some segmentation, we can get part way there
> by adopting some subject-line conventions so that the first N
> characters of a post tell you what the general subject is, making it
> perhaps easier and more efficient to monitor the traffic without
> further sub-dividing our already tiny family.
>
> FWIW.