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Subject: 
Should RTL be hosted on this server?
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.general
Date: 
Sun, 29 Nov 1998 01:23:13 GMT
Viewed: 
2418 times
  
Hello Lugnetters,

I need help making a very important decision regarding the NNTP server here,
and I'd like to hear any opinions and random thoughts you might have.

If RTL were hosted on this news server, would that clearly be a good thing,
or a bad thing, or would it make no difference in anyone's lives?

Although it would be a relatively simple technical action, I think it would
be wise to solicit input and discussion before just jumping in and doing it
for the sake of doing it.  That is, I'd like to understand the potential
positive and negative consequences of the action, and for us as a community
(collective mind) to decide whether or not it might be a good thing to do.

Personally, I think I'd like to see it if it didn't create a whole new set
of problems (therein lies the concern).  I am certain that it would save me
time because I wouldn't have to go start up another session to read it from
my other ISP, and other people have said it would save them time (and even
money in some cases), but the larger issues of community-building may be
more important in the long run than saving a bit of time or money.

What do you think?  Does it make things better or worse for you, easier or
harder for you?  Is it a potentially dangerous idea or is it clearly a
win-win for everyone?

Would it foster animosity and boundaries or would it bring people still
closer together?

Would it be so good that it would be far more harmful _not_ to do it?

Might it be harmful to people who frequent RTL only and who do not frequent
the groups here?  Or would it help them?

I'm thinking that if it were hosted here, then for legal reasons it would
need to be hosted in the manner of a classic Usenet newsgroup, namely...

   1.  Articles expire from the server after 2-3 weeks.

   2.  Articles are not archived.  (They'd be archived and searchable on
       Deja News anyway.)

   3.  No from-line verification or content-based message rejection; anyone
       posting is automatically passed, and binaries & HTML are passed as
       well.

   4-?  [What other properties would it have?]

...and these differences run the risk of creating a whole new set of social
problems.  (Perhaps solvable ones, but potential problems nonetheless.)


The advantages of hosting RTL here:

   1.  Increases availability of RTL.

   2.  People who read news here can read RTL here as well (and post) if
       they like.

   3.  Brings RTL closer to LUGNET and reduces fragmentation of the
       online LEGO-fan community.

   4-?  [Your thoughts here]


Possible disadantages:

   1.  Potential for confusion about where to post new threads when posting
       on this server (particularly lugnet.general vs. rec.toys.lego).

   2.  Potential for confusion about crossposting.

   3.  Possible resentment and repeated questions from people who may feel
       sleighted by the fact that their pure-RTL articles are not archived
       along with the other lugnet.* newsgroups.

   4.  Possible resentment, confusion, and repeated questions from people
       who post to RTL all the time and then get rejected when posting to
       a lugnet newsgroup because they haven't yet gone through the
       news-posting setup.

   5-?  [Your thoughts here]


--Todd



Message has 16 Replies:
  Re: Should RTL be hosted on this server?
 
Well, I'll risk putting in my two cents, and being thought a fool... I have trouble accessing RTL from time to time. Most recently, I keep getting that there are no new mesages, when I know for a fact that ther are. I had thisa problem once befoore, (...) (26 years ago, 21-Nov-98, to lugnet.general)
  Re: Should RTL be hosted on this server?
 
(...) Abstain. I really don't understand enough about the ramifications to comment. I'm sure I will be happy with the sense of the group on this one. JSA (26 years ago, 29-Nov-98, to lugnet.general)
  Re: Should RTL be hosted on this server?
 
(...) This is a question worthy of some thought. Nevertheless, I'm gonna share my gut reactions now, and think about it and probably post again. Call it intuition vs. deliberation... What follows is the intuition part. My gut reaction is no. I can (...) (26 years ago, 29-Nov-98, to lugnet.general)
  Re: Should RTL be hosted on this server?
 
(...) Personnaly it costs me little time and no money to maintain the status quo. I am not a big fan of cross posting, so that feature has no appeal. In general I believe that the potential negatives out weigh the upside. It seems as though RTL is (...) (26 years ago, 29-Nov-98, to lugnet.general)
  Re: Should RTL be hosted on this server?
 
R.T.L. on Lugnet? Does that mean more messages send through than through my current server? I like what lugnet does and it seems that everyone respects the rules so far ......I seen the other day that someone was posting furby's for sale, now what (...) (26 years ago, 29-Nov-98, to lugnet.general)
  Re: Should RTL be hosted on this server?
 
YES YES YES that way I can crosspost! KL (...) (26 years ago, 29-Nov-98, to lugnet.general)
  Re: Should RTL be hosted on this server?
 
Todd Lehman wrote in message <3660932d.30465790@l...et.com>... (...) here, (...) If it means you can crosspost, then definitely not. People would just crosspost everything and we'd end up with all sorts of crap and flameage on Lugnet. Other than (...) (26 years ago, 29-Nov-98, to lugnet.general)
  Re: Should RTL be hosted on this server?
 
Todd Lehman skrev i meddelandet <3660932d.30465790@l...et.com>... (...) If it would mean _better_ coverage of all messages, I'm all for it (I _very_ often see answers to messages that doesn't show up until the next day - or never) I think You can (...) (26 years ago, 29-Nov-98, to lugnet.general)
  Re: Should RTL be hosted on this server?
 
(...) I think it would be a good thing preventing the death of RTL as everyone leaves and moves to LUGNET. (...) I don't think it would make it easier either way as I would still have to use 2 news servers. (...) It would prevent the split currently (...) (26 years ago, 29-Nov-98, to lugnet.general)
  Re: Should RTL be hosted on this server?
 
(...) I think the largest problem would be: Moderation!!! Will you moderate RTL on Lugnet as you moderate Lugnet? What effect would that have on people who read RTL via their Newsgroup reader? Will you block spam on RTL from being viewed on Lugnet, (...) (26 years ago, 29-Nov-98, to lugnet.general)
  Re: Should RTL be hosted on this server?
 
Todd, Could you clarify technically what you mean by hosted on this server? I think there is some confusion. I understand that you are trying to investigate the social implications, but I think everyone needs to understand what would happen (...) (26 years ago, 29-Nov-98, to lugnet.general)
  Re: Should RTL be hosted on this server?
 
(...) <snip> (...) For me, and many others with terrible newsservers, this is a big advantage. I have to use Dejanews to read RTL if I want to stay current with posts. While I like Dejanews as an archiving service, it is not ideal to use it as a (...) (26 years ago, 30-Nov-98, to lugnet.general)
  Re: Should RTL be hosted on this server?
 
[Once upon a time, lehman@javanet.com (Todd Lehman) wrote about hosting RTL on lugnet.com/news/.] Apparently, I picked the wrong time to have a major national holiday separate me from my lugnet-devoted newsreader. :/ I'll make my points brief. They (...) (26 years ago, 30-Nov-98, to lugnet.general)
  Re: Should RTL be hosted on this server?
 
Todd Lehman wrote: <snip> I know that Robert's Rules of Order do not completely apply here, but nonetheless: "Call the question!" That is, we've talked about it for a while now and I think many stakeholders have stated their positions. Key (...) (26 years ago, 7-Dec-98, to lugnet.general)
  Re: Should RTL be hosted on this server?
 
(...) It would be a good thing for me, I have trouble with newsreaders - my Netscape one doesn't work anymore, and for some reason Dejanews doesn't either. (...) I dont' know if I agree with this. Can you restrict HTML and binaries since they are (...) (26 years ago, 12-Dec-98, to lugnet.general)
  Re: Should RTL be hosted on this server?
 
Todd Lehman wrote: <original question> Discussion on this seems to have petered out. Well, I changed my mind. If we can resolve the cross posting problems, I now think it's a good idea. Why? Selfish reasons. Several times in the last week I have (...) (26 years ago, 28-Dec-98, to lugnet.general)

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