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Some of you have been wondering what happened to your usual flood of
email from the Omega List at Eskimo. I decided Tuesday that the tide
of nonsense and noise had risen to a level that a brief timeout from
the list traffic might calm things down and make a return to some
form of sanity possible. At the rate the quality contributers are
leaving, it's clear something needs to change.
For those who don't know, this is NOT a moderated list. There is
nobody screening each post as it arrives, deciding whether it's
worthy of distribution. Jack and I do our best to deal with the
numerous email-routing problems that a list of some fifteen-hundred
subscribers experience in the normal course of events, but incoming
articles are distributed as soon as they arrive - you see them as
soon as I do, and probably sooner, considering that I don't have
time to read the list constantly. So, when some of you object to
a "flood of spam" because you object to a post from a vendor, there's
nothing I can do to "recall" that message, even if I wanted to.
The only real control I have over the list's content is to remove
subscribers, AFTER they have posted offending material.
If you object to what someone posts to the list, unless you feel
you're in a position to correct a specific fact in that post,
keep your objection between that person and yourself, unless you
feel so strongly about it that you need to copy me. Do NOT post
demands that so-and-so be removed from the list. The noise from
these demands is much more objectionable than any imaginable spam.
The quickest way to get yourself removed from this list is to post
personal mail from another list subscriber without their permission.
If someone has made rude remarks to you privately because of something
you posted on this list, by all means tell me about it, but do NOT
pass on those remarks to the list to share your displeasure.
I use products that I learned about on this list, and I see no reason
why we can't tolerate the discrete mention of such products, when
it's done in the context of solving someone's problem. If you feel
someone is "spamming the list" with constant advertisements, tell
it to me, but DON'T make a fuss on the list. If I don't feel that
that person warrants removal, LET IT GO. As one recent commentator
mentioned in this subject, life's not fair. I'll be the judge of
who gets removed from this list. Again, the noise from the complaints
is worse than the odd bit of "spam."
Believe it or not, the list server receives plenty of usenet-style
spam, but you don't see it because the server refuses to distribute it.
If you have a product that you feel would be useful to the list
readers, you may send an announcement of that product to me and
if I agree that it's worthy of mention, I'll forward your announcement
to the list.
Let me clear up a couple of points for those who have been around
less than three years or so. "The Sheriff" is Chuck Kaucher, and was
"appointed" to that position years ago by another list member, mostly
in jest, during one of these flame fests, back when a few words from
a long-time list member seemed to get an errant poster's attention.
Despite Chuck's sometimes valiant efforts and his lofty title, he has
no real role in the administration of this list. That role is mine
and mine alone. This list is NOT a democracy. It's something Steve
Hill and I started for our own selfish benefit; we thought whatever
we learned from the list content would pay for the time it takes to
administer the thing; if you feel the list has value to you, it's in
your interest to minimise that time.
--
jimo@xxxxxxxxxx
maintainer of the omega list
omega-list-request@xxxxxxxxxx
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