[CentOS] new list proposal

Thu Oct 16 20:44:00 UTC 2008
John Hinton <webmaster at ew3d.com>

Karanbir Singh wrote:
> MHR wrote:
>> Thank you - for listening, participating, discussing and making the
>> right choice.
>
> At the moment, its more a case of a 'failure to communicate' in my 
> opinion. Lets see how it pans out. There are still some really good 
> ideas in this thread, most worth looking at.
>
> - KB
I certainly hope this idea doesn't go into the trash bin. Basically, as 
a sysadmin, this list is like a 10 to 1 noise to signal ratio for me. 
Today... Firefox crashes. I don't run Firefox on any of my CentOS 
machines, nor any GUI. The bulk of the posts seem to regard something 
that is more desktop related. Please understand this is not a negative 
as this is one fantastic service to those working with CentOS. All good, 
'including' the Firefox thread. That's just today's top 10, 15, or 20 
emails I'll get that I just have to delete. Oddly though, I normally at 
least look at the Firefox stuff to see if there is anything I need to 
know about.

But there is a big difference with getting CentOS to run, bugs or 
perceived bugs in CentOS, dealing with various hardware issues versus 
discussions of best practices for running CentOS or actually, for me, 
creating a robust system for the public side.

I simply do not understand the closed mind attitudes of creating a 
second list. If it does not pertain to you, don't sign up for it. But 
for me, almost everyday, I'm doing a shift select delete of the entire 
CentOS list simply because I don't have time to sort through the bulk 
that is not pertinent to me. I actually feel bad for doing this because 
I am rarely contributing.

Linux distros have changed dramatically over the last ten years. It's 
simply not as easy as it used to be to get everything to work happily 
together. There is more of a need now than ever to have best practices 
especially for public facing servers. Often times there is a fine line 
between whether it is a CentOS issue, if it is any package provided 
within CentOS or a case where one needs to go to the provider of the 
software from which that package is created. Maybe I'm the only one 
here, but I find it difficult many times to get good help within the 
lists of those software providers, which can often times be a perfectly 
fantastic cure, but not one that works well within the constraints of 
CentOS. (I like those constraints, most of the time).

This list has been very forgiving with regards to almost anything in a 
very broad range. But, it at the same time has become unwieldy as it's 
size has grown... a success story that is appreciated.

Yet, I cannot understand why some would be yelling fowl, which in 
essence is hurting my ability to get and provide help in the specific 
areas where I have expertise, with the creation of this proposed other 
email list.

Cut us loose... Lets get into a complete and total discussion of best 
practices and best software to be used for anti-spam technology layered 
on top of a CentOS mailserver. Now that's a thread I don't think this 
general list would appreciate nor tolerate for more than a few hours.

Best,
John Hinton