My major objection to moving to a USENET (newsgroup) format versus a mailing
list would be the (IMHO) the large reduction in timely responses to
questions and problems. Most people check their email at least daily -- and
would do so even if they were not subscribed to the list. With USENET, you
have to intentionally open up a different program and go to the newsgroup to
see what is new. When folks are busy, they just won't bother going there.
The email (for better or worse) hits you smack between the eyes -- so you
are forced to stay current with it (by at least deleting it if nothing
else). With my luck, the guy that has the part I need or the answer to my
question, won't get around to logging into the newsgroup during the day or
two I really need him to. The immediacy of email is something that I feel
adds an awful lot to the value of the list. There have been several times
that I have been right in the middle of doing something, ran into a problem,
posted the question and got an answer while I was still in the middle of the
project. No way (again, IMHO) that this would happen as often using a
newsgroup.
Sorry for so long a response, but it's late and I don't have the time to
compose a briefer one.
Dave Moag
62 TR3B
77 Spitfire
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