[MUD-Dev] Meta: who dat guy, wot dat web?

[coder at ibm.net]

Subject: Re: [MUD-Dev]  Re: [Fwd: MUD-Dev]

???

On 07/04/98 at 03:37 AM, Katrina McClelan <kitkat at the486.bradley.edu>
said: >On Mon, 6 Apr 1998 coder at ibm.net wrote:

>> Currently the web pages are written for the fact of the list and the list
>> archives to be public and publicly searchable, but for new subcribers to
>> be read-only (no posting) until manually promoted by yours truly.  This is
>> the best model I've come up with yet for maintaining the list's quality
>> without risking an r.g.m.* mess.  Suggestions for other possible models
>> are welcome.
>> 

>This is probably the best model, if you're going to let people subscribe
>at large.  The only problem with this is that it'd be quite easy to
>attract replies to sender instead of list, or for people to make list
>aliases that list out the people on the list by hand.

Writing as list owner:

  This came up before, as well as the concern with spammers skimming the
pages for email addresses.  To this end all email addresses on the web
pages in the message headers, bodies and signatures, will be munged. 
Currently I munge them simply: translating the at-sign ("@") to a hash
("#").  I can easily go further and translate periods to commas, or even
the at-sign to the string " at ", or use random selection from a number of
patterns.

  The form of the munging is (will be) clearly stated on the web pages.

  The membership list is hidden by the list server (both the current
steward and the upcoming Petidomo).  Sure, you could (easily) brute fource
the archives -- but you'd get the actively posting members only, and not
the many lurkers.  Problem?  Perhaps.  

>Of course, we're all "elitist" according to some people on usenet anyway
>:)

Truth to tell; by simple definition this is an implicitly elitist society. 
I'm also damned proud of that fact.

>... -- not any real NEED to make the list public access.  

You missed the discussion on this area here last year.  It was quite an
active meta thread.  Many showed themselves very protective of the list
and its signal.  

There are problems with keeping the list compleatly closed, the most
significant of which are that without more active recruitment of new
members (I think three of us are reponsible for almost the entire current
membership (getting close to 100)) and the resulting import of new topics
the list will eventually die either thru endless topical incest (we all
know what each other is doing, and have hashed over the same weary old
coals too many times to be interested) or simple lack of relevance.

- 
J C Lawrence                               Internet: claw at null.net
----------(*)                              Internet: coder at ibm.net
...Honourary Member of Clan McFud -- Teamer's Avenging Monolith...