Let me preface this by saying I have only seen Mark's original post and Roland
Dudley's reply. Other comments sent to the list on this subject will not
reach me until tomorrow (Thursday).
Mark is operating two rather large lists. It looks to me like the traffic is
quite a bit higher on the Britcar list than the autocross list. Both lists
will snowball as the season progresses.
What can the British Car gang do about it?
The most important thing is to spread the thing around. The simplest (not
necessarily the easiest) is for someone else to take over the whole
british-car list from Mark. I got the impression at the time the Flickering
Flame passed to Mark as the next Keeper that it was to be a temporary thing.
Temporary seems to become permanent when the pressure is off. This solution
cuts Mark's extracurricular workload, as he is only stuck with one big list
on which to ride herd.
It leaves the british-car list with a lot of the same problems, though. High
traffic is always going to be a problem. Maybe there is an answer in
specialization. Since the british-car thing is getting bigger and bigger, it
would surely support some fragmentation. So here is my somewhat unfocused
suggestion:
Mark continues with the british-car list with the understanding that its
traffic shrinks to only topics of general British interest.
Marque-specific lists be set up to be operated by fanatics of each Marque.
I think 4 rather large divisions would do it:
MG / Morris / Austin / Austin-Healey
Triumph / Standard
Jaguar / Aston-Martin / Rolls-Royce / Bentley / Lagonda
Lotus / TVR / Marcos / Ford / Jensen / Jensen-Healey / Daimler / Morgan
If each of these was run by a different person, the work load would be
comparatively small. Only a few of the most *fanatic* Britcar fanciers would
join all the lists. Fewer still should ever want to post to all of them. I
would expect most to join the british-cars list and one other. Many would
join the main list and two others.
The key here is to put the lid on cross-posting. Each Marque group would be
large enough to keep good conversations going on without requiring input from
more than one list.
This is where I weasel out: I can't operate a list. I don't even know UNIX.
I am not a computer guy at all, just a Sewer Charge Administrator with a
computer. I have no influence with Public Works Computer Services, and no
access to the internal workings of the Sun system here. Proof positive that
Macintoshes are very user-friendly.
To prevent this discussion from becoming a list.pain.in.the.ass itself, please
send your comments, suggestions, flames and the like to me directly, and I
will summarize. Follow the bang path back to me. Due to the setup here (over
which I have no control whatever), postings to the list or to
phile@pwcs.stpaul.gov take an extra day. I will not see *this* posting come
back to me until tomorrow, although Mark's excellent setup has whisked it
right out to you. My stuff gets out fast and is slow getting back to me.
Phil Ethier, THE RIGHT LINE, 672 Orleans Street, Saint Paul, MN 55107-2676
h (612) 224-3105, w (612) 298-5324 uunet!medtron!pwcs.stpaul.gov!phile
"The workingman's GT-40" - Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman
Remember, if you follow my path back, I will get your message much sooner.
--
Login name: phile In real life: Philip J Ethier
Phone: 298-5324
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