From: Selden E Ball Jr (SEB@LNS62.LNS.CORNELL.EDU)
Date: Fri Feb 28 2003 - 14:27:44 CST
Randy,
You wondered
> Is this information archived anywhere? Have a couple of questions I'm
> sure have been asked before, and I'd love to search previous messages
> before generating new email.
An archive of the past three weeks is at
http://www.iss.westhost.com/kb/usssp_l_kb/usssp_l_kb.cgi?active_tab=7
Unfortunately, I don't know of any publicly available archives of older
postings. If someone decides to set one up, I suspect there are several
individuals who could supply a complete set of all the postings,
however:-)
> On that note, why have this as a mailing list as opposed to a usenet news
> group (say rec.scouting.philmont)? That would eliminate the need for the
> subscription stuff, and could make all the content keyword searchable via
> services like Google.
For one thing, newsgroups and mailing lists are two quite different cultures.
Perhaps part of this is due to the personal accountability that is possible
with mailing lists and which is not common with newsgroups, as well as
the (perhaps false) feeling of intimacy that mailing lists provide.
As a result, postings to mailing lists tend to be much more polite.
Some newsgroup readers tend to hide some of the differences, though.
Here are a few other reasons:
1) Spam
a) Usenet news groups are constantly scanned by spammers for
mailing addresses. This means that you can't post using your
real e'mail address, which can make some important kinds of
communication rather difficult.
The amount of work necessary to subscribe to the mailing list
greatly reduces the number and rate of spammers obtaining
addresses from the list.
b) Newsgroups are flooded by spammers all the time.
Only moderated groups can prevent it by someone taking the time
to approve each message.
Mailing lists usually don't have to be moderated.
2) Trolls
Usenet news groups are subject to random antagonistic postings
by anonymous uninterested parties, aka "Trolling". See my comment
above about moderation.
Having to provide a valid e'mail address makes this less common
on a mailing list, although misunderstood postings can sometimes
be just as distressing.
3) Newsgroup creation
Someone has to spearhead the creation of the newsgroup.
The politics of creating a new newsgroup is daunting.
Setting up a moderated list is even more difficult.
You only have to convince a single site to host a mailing list,
although finding one can be a problem when it's a rather busy list
like this one.
4) Propagation
Connected sites have to agree to carry the newsgroup.
Even if appropriate sites carry the newsgroup, Usenet postings
are not guaranteed to be delivered, and they can take quite a
while to get from one server to another.
Mailing lists deliver directly to the individual subscribers, so
messages are more likely to get to the intended recipients.
Delivery time is related more to the performace of the system
hosting the mailing list than to the number of systems between
the source of the message and the place you read the message.
5) Immediacy
You have to make an effort to look at newsgroups to see if
anything has been posted that might be of interest.
Mail is delivered directly to your personal mailbox.
I hope this clarifies some of the issues.
Selden
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