[CentOS] new list proposal - meaningless

[MHR]

On Thu, Oct 16, 2008 at 9:52 AM, Karanbir Singh <mail-lists at karan.org> wrote:
>
>> If the CentOS devs don't have time to answer key questions such as
>> on the kernel but have time to consider fragmenting the mailing list
>> who wins/loses?
>
> What barriers did you run into when you tried to help with the situation and
> try to be a better member of the community ?
>

I'm just a small-time CentOS user, working (currently) in an
environment where CentOS is a prime candidate as the base OS for our
next major systems upgrade (for our application, to be distributed to
our entire customer base).  At my last job, I was sufficiently
impressed with CentOS that I took it home and now use it exclusively
for my main desktop, laptop, at-work desktop (on two machines now!),
with Window$ running only as a VM using VMWare Server.

I've been in this business a long time, and I've seen a lot of things
happen, including splitting of mailing lists or other
group-communications efforts, I have a big mouth and am not (too)
afraid to use it, I try to be at least a bit funny in my postings, but
I also have a fuse that occasionally burns short with what I view as
truly stupid questions, and I ask my own fair share of them as well.

That said, I am drawn back to this paragraph from
http://www.centos.org/modules/tinycontent/index.php?id=16:

"The CentOS discussion and information list is a general purpose
communication list for centos. Security updates are currently
announced on this list once daily. This list is read and reply for
anyone that is a member of the mailing list. (Archives)"

In that context, there is little that is completely off-topic here,
and IMNSHO, rightly so.

As Niki said earlier in this discussion, KISS.

List courtesy demands that when a list moderator (and I don't know who
all of these are, but I do know that KB is one of them) says, "this is
OT," that's the end of a discussion on this list.  (Well, it should
be.)

Other than blatantly stupid or obviously unresearched questions (as we
see from time to time), the <delete> key/button is a great solution to
most of the issues that have given rise to this discussion, and it is
a lot less work that splitting (and managing the split of) this list.

IIRC, the most likely effect of such a list split is that one of the
new lists will prosper and grow, and the other will atrophy and die,
thus replacing this list with one of the new ones, which will then
serve the same purpose in the long run as this list already does.  It
might take months, or years, but that's usually what happens, and it's
not worth the upheaval created in the first place.

However, I am neither a moderator nor owner of this list, so I will
deal with the administrative decision that is made in this regard my
own way, as will we all, and hope that something good comes of it.

I believe that the best "good" that can come from this discussion is
that all will realize what a treasure this list is, in its current
form, and that it is worth preserving as is.

That's my $40.00 worth ($0.02 in 1960 US money).

Mark Hull-Richter
CentOS Linux Software Developer
Registered Linux User #472807
- sign up at http://counter.li.org/