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re: rec.aquaria.freshwater.plants



>  From: Stephen.Pushak at saudan_HAC.COM

I recognize that my opinions here don't mesh well with what others have said,
but I'll try and put my thoughts into context with this questionnaire
  
>  will you be reading the aquatic plant NewsGroup?

Yes

>  do you figure you'll have the time to read both the newsgroup
>  and the list?

Yes, although I'd prefer to get the contents of both in one place.

>  would you promise to update the newsgroup with the valuable
>  contributions that you make here on the APD for those who
>  might feel they cannot afford the time to read both?

This would be difficult under the current configuration.  Some newsgroup
subscribers won't post to both places, and it would require a search in both
locations to determine whether a response message should be posted in both
places.  So I guess, No.

>  do you plan to post questions to both the newsgroup and to
>  the APD list just so you can be sure to reach the people who are
>  going to be exclusive to one or the other?

I'll probably originate many of my threads on the newsgroup, but I plan to
answer questions asked on the digest with the same regularity that I answer on
the newsgroup.  I don't currently plan to answer the same question in both
places, though and will probably give preference to wherever I read the
question first.  I suspect that many of the experts will wind up reading both,
as long as we keep potential rabble-rousers from polluting the newsgroup with
flames.  The rec.aquaria.* newsgroups' general charter will help with this,
stating:

>>Flames and other
non-constructive criticism aimed at those seeking help are unwelcome
and should be directed elsewhere (try alt.flame, /dev/null, or shout
at your monitor).<<

>  could you get by if we only had the newsgroup?

I could, but I know of others that don't have access to the newsgroup, and I'd
hate to lose them.  I'm looking forward to completion of the newsgroup
propagation, and I expect to get a large number of less-frequent users on the
newsgroup (and a lot more newcomer questions).  This doesn't bother me, because
when you get down to your specialty, it's kind-of fun to describe to people how
they can make their aquarium "do this, or that".
  
>  would only having the newsgroup actually be kind of nice for you?

I like the newsgroup format for conducting discussions.  I think that after the
new hierarchy settles down some, the irritation left over from the re-org
discussions will also subside.  I expect the plants newsgroup to present much
the same attitude as the mailing list, and I for one, plan to work to keep the
newsgroup friendly (when necessary).  Having said this, I also don't want to
miss the postings of people who don't have access to the newsgroup, and I
suspect that many of them feel the same way about the postings of people who
plan to "base" off of the newsgroup.

So far, I haven't seen many opinions about adding a 2-way gate between the
plants-digest and the newsgroup, although from what I've seen, many people want
the plants-digest to be more of a quiet, low volume format that wouldn't happen
in a two-way gated situation.  A one-way gate from the digest to the newsgroup
would be acceptable to me if I could subscribe to the digest as a poster but
not a receiver, and if each posting from the digest were marked as such, so I
could reply to the digest and have it re-posted to the newsgroup.  I can see
this arrangement as a bit confusing to newcomers, though.

>  would you change your mind if the APD continues to double in
>  volume at the current rate?

I think that the APD was a bit sparse for the first few weeks and has now grown
to anything but sparse.  I will continue to read and post to it as long as it
exists, although I've stated my preference for an extra access medium above
(2-way gate between the list and the newsgroup).
  

David W. Webb
Enterprise Computing Provisioning
Texas Instruments Inc. Dallas, TX USA
(214) 575-3443 (voice)  MSGID:       DAWB
(214) 575-4853 (fax)    Internet:    dwebb at ti_com
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