RFC: Digest-ing the List

Andrew Boyd (andrew at pcug.org.au)
Sat, 25 May 1996 18:09:23 +1000

I'd like to hear any views for and against making this list a digest one;
that is, instead of every posting going to subscribers as soon as it is
recieved (unless your mailserver is misbehaving and it bounces: this
happens) they will be held back and sent in batches. FWIU this is three
times a day.

This is our first RFC: Request For Comment.

There would be no reduction in posting content, there would merely be fewer,
larger postings. This would make no difference to me, I think, but other
lists do it (so I am told) so tell me what you think...

I, as one of the list's co-owners, wouldn't have liked this to happen during
the list's infancy: having to wait until the nest mass-posting to check if
test messages made it to the list would have been unbearable. However, we
seem to have the basic bugs worked out; it's time to cause some more!

In short, I know that three list members are in favour of this digest thing
(they've told me), so my feeling is that if we have no serious objections,
we'll start implementing it. I'd like to know more about it before going
ahead, personally, because if it causes problems I'll have to help fix it!

If there's too much dissent one way or another after a reasonable RFC
period, we'll put it to a vote, I guess. I'm new to this RFC thing, but one
of the reasons I left the *.aquaria newsgroups forever was that they got
bogged down in a RFC-turned-flamewar.

On this point, the flamage policy is on the FAQ (send "info rainbowfish" to
majordomo at auug.org.au to retrieve) - I suggest anyone interested read it
BEFORE either flaming someone or replying to a flame - so let's keep it on a
friendly basis, as it has been so far.

Views, anyone, about digest?

Regards, Andrew Boyd
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Andrew Boyd - andrew at pcug.org.au - http://www.pcug.org.au/~andrew
Evolution takes no prisoners....
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