[Mailman-Users] [suggestion] non-member thread subscription

[jw schultz]

Let me say that i don't manage or host any lists.  I am,
however, a member of several lists.  As a member of mailing
lists i have a suggestion for a feature that would, i think,
be of benefit to list members an non-members.

As a member of several developer/support lists I often see
postings from people who have a single question.  They don't
wish to subscribe to the list, they just want an answer to
their question or to be able answer questions that list
members may have in response to their suggestion.  My
sending this idea to the mailman list would would qualify.

Their choices are few and problematic.

      o They can subscribe and then cancel the subscription
	at a later date -- a hurdle that daunts many and
	presents the prospect of inundation.

      o Some poll a list archive -- that causes delays,
	heavier load on the archive server and follow-ups
	that break threading.

      o Some ask list members to CC them in follow-ups --
	sporadic compliance at best resulting in their
	address being dropped from the thread and the user
	either missing some of the replies or polling the
	archives.

All of these choices reduce effective participation and
thereby contribution of those on the perepheri.

I have thought of another possibility.  I call it non-member
thread subscription.  When a posting to a list is made by a
non-member a record associating that non-member's email
address with the thread is created.  When follow-up postings
are made to the thread they also get sent to the thread
subscribers.  This way the non-member could communicate with
the developer community about their single issue in a
fairly transparent manner.

This whole process could be done with a supplementary
program provided it had access to the subscriber list.
This external program would track threads with non-member
posters and forward the follups to them.

As indicated i am not a member of this list.  I put this out
there as a suggestion.  What you do with it is up to you.
In this case i'll not be monitoring the list so if you have
a question you want ME to answer regarding my suggestion you
will have to CC me.

-- 
________________________________________________________________
	J.W. Schultz            Pegasystems Technologies
	email address:		jw at pegasys.ws

		Remember Cernan and Schmitt