On Fri, 15 Dec 2000 00:16:25 -0800 Chuq Von Rospach <chuqui@plaidworks.com> wrote:
At 9:57 PM -0500 12/14/00, Barry A. Warsaw wrote:
You've just described Roundup's nosy lists:
so now we've grafted Brad Templeton's old Knews (keyword usenet) idea with google and implemented both into mailman so the list server can figure out if you really want the email, granular to the individual message?
Yes, but better, since now (post v3) an individual can implement a knews-style implementation without having to re-invent the weel, and without even necessarily needing to have to.
Consider a mailing list system ala:
--<cut>-- From: Ka-Ping Yee [mailto:ping@lfw.org] Sent: Monday, May 22, 2000 2:45 AM To: Roundup users Subject: {3} Welcome to the Singularity discussion system!
Issue: {3} http://headspaces.com/singularity/3 Description: -> Welcome to the Singularity discussion system! Priority: -> 5 Keywords: -> admin Nosy: -> ping@lfw.org
Hello everyone!
Thank you all for joining the Singularity discussion system and helping to carry forward the dialogue and all the great work that took place at this weekend's Foresight Gathering.
This system works much like a typical electronic mailing list, but it does have some key features which should help improve information flow (in one of my sessions, someone used the term "noise management" and i thought it was great).
1. Only messages opening new threads are sent tothe entire mailing list. This happens when you compose a new message and send it directly to singularity@headspaces.com.
2. Starting a new thread in this way opens an "issue"in the discussion system. The issue gets its title from your subject line. Each issue maintains its own list of interested people. Initially, this list just contains you, the initial poster.
3. Issues show up on the website at headspaces.com.They have a priority level that you can edit, and they are listed so you can see which ones have been most active recently. Issues are assigned keywords so they can be classified and searched. To specify keywords, put some words in square brackets in your initial subject line, such as [nano upload]. If you don't specify keywords, the system will pick words from your subject.
4. Messages forwarded from the system will have anumber in curly-braces at the beginning of the subject line, like {37}. This number identifies the issue and causes further mail to collect on the issue's web page.
5. When you reply to mail, preserve this id numberon your subject line. (A preceding "Re:" is no problem.) You will be placed on the issue's "nosy list" of interested parties, and your message will get forwarded only to the other people on the issue's list. If you "Cc:" anyone on your message, they will also get added to the issue's list, bringing them into the discussion.
6. If you want to join in on an issue after it hasalready started, just go to the web page for the issue (click on the issue id in the main list) to catch up on all the discussion that has already taken place. Join in by sending a message to singularity@headspaces.com with the issue id as the first thing in your subject line.
Of course, we are going to need a little discipline to use the system best. For example, if an issue starts to veer off-topic, please open a new issue so that interested parties can join in. And when you're about to create a new issue, have a look at the list of existing issues first to see if there's already an issue relevant to what you want to say.
It's a bit like running lots of mailing lists at once, where creating a new list is effortless. You don't need to worry about subscribing -- you just participate -- and you usually don't need to worry about unsubscribing: issues will die down as they get resolved, and if a new relevant point is raised, you will probably have wanted to see it anyway. You can always edit the "nosy" field of the issue directly if you need to.
As i mentioned in the closing session, the software is new and experimental. We've used software like this where i work, however, and it's worked out very well for us. I hope that it helps keep the discussion going without sending you an excessive volume of e-mail.
Please feel free to ask me any questions you have about the system -- just reply to this message, and they will become part of this issue.
Enjoy!
-- ?!ng --<cut>--
And then consider how difficult that would be to implement under the proposed Mailman v3 (I figure no more than a wekk (a few days more like) over a default installation).
Cool My grandkids might finish coding it... (giggle)
Uhh huh.
-- J C Lawrence claw@kanga.nu ---------(*) http://www.kanga.nu/~claw/ --=| A man is as sane as he is dangerous to his environment |=--