[asterisk-dev] [policy] Discussion on IRC - how to make -dev more useful

[Jay R. Ashworth]

On Tue, Jun 03, 2008 at 08:39:20AM -0500, John Lange wrote:
> I'm not opposed to anyone trying to make improvements but my honest
> feeling is it won't work.

Concur, based on 25 years experience on mailing lists...

> First, this seems like a solution without a problem. The -dev list
> really is not that busy. I don't find it all that hard to scan subject
> lines and read messages that interest me while ignoring or skimming over
> ones that seem less relevant.
> 
> Secondly, how are you going to enforce subject line compliance? The
> "correct" way to do this would be to split the list into separate lists
> but my experience with this is it never works. You just end up with
> people cross posting to every list because they always want their posts
> to reach the maximum number of readers.

The worst problems with the idea, though, are these:

1) it pushes the labor onto the posters, when the people who care are
the readers, and probably not all of them.

2) it pushes the *actual* subject line even further off the screen,
which is painful, even if you *don't* use mutt in an xterm, as I do.

And indeed, as John points out, -dev really is not that high traffic a
mailing list.  If you want to see a high traffic mailing list, go
subscribe to LMKL for a day or two.

Cheers,
-- jra
-- 
Jay R. Ashworth                   Baylink                      jra at baylink.com
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