[Nottingham] Proposal

[Michael Leuty]

On Wednesday 09 Nov 2005 23:59, Martin wrote:
> It does worry me a little that we are rather too geekie for most users.
> But then also, general users seem not to post much...

Perhaps they are inhibited by the perceived geekiness of the list, and 
don't dare post questions?

Computer geeks in general have a bit of a reputation for not suffering 
(what they consider to be) fools gladly. On the internet there is a 
culture of RTFM, do your own research, don't bother me with trivial 
questions. That is perhaps understandable when there are a large number 
of newbies. I would hope the geeks here would be more tolerant.

> My view is that any and whatever question should be posted.

I'm glad you think so.

> Whatever, a critical mass is still needed to keep the group
> alive and more than just Yet Another Maillist.

I once heard a rule of thumb that you need about 100 participants to keep 
up discussion, bearing in mind that many of these will only post rarely.

> I am effectively moderated myself by other listadmins and by the people
> on this list. If you all stay quiet, then who is to know?

It's the silence that bothers me.

> Myself, I'm still musing on a few thoughts for what NLUG /is/ and what
> is wanted.

We are a Local List for Local People, obviously. For those who attend 
meetings, the attractions are obvious. For those (like me) who only use 
the list, I think the attraction should be a small group where the geeks 
are happy to help the newbies.

Mike

-- 
Michael Leuty
Nottingham, UK