[clug] Scope of list

Robert Edwards bob at cs.anu.edu.au
Tue Sep 15 21:06:34 MDT 2009


Daniel Pittman wrote:
> Robert Edwards <bob at cs.anu.edu.au> writes:
> 
>> A thought of mine (so I'll fork a new thread...):
>>
>> CLUG is the Canberra Linux Users Group, by which _I_ understand:
>>  - Canberra and surrounding region (Southern NSW)
>>  - Linux and all other FOSS and all aspects thereof
>>  - Users, developers, admins, enquirers, beginners, newbies etc.
>>  - Group (whatever that means)
>>
>> So this mailing list should be targetted at people satisfying those
>> criteria. Esp. the first one... this list is for people who live in Canberra
>> and the surrounding region or who attend CLUG meetings (main meetings,
>> PSIGs, Installfests, SFDs etc.). People who have been involved in CLUG in
>> the past but are no longer in the Canberra and surrounding region are
>> welcome to contribute, but please temper your posts to maybe just one per
>> topic, maybe directing us to a similar thread on another mailing list.
>>
>> Anyone else can listen in.
> 
> OK, I will bite: why don't you want people like Jacinta and I, and anyone else
> who isn't local, to contribute?  The vast majority of discussion isn't
> especially location-limited, and many of the issues are identical between,
> say, Melbourne and Canberra?
> 
> [...]
> 
>> I can say that there are over 650 people on this list, but in the past
>> 2 weeks more than twice as many people have unsubscribed as have
>> subscribed... this is clearly not sustainable...
> 
> Well, my first reaction would be to say "don't mistake a short term market
> fluctuation for a long term trend."  What do those figures look like over the
> last three months, and the last year?  What happens with a rolling average
> over that time?
> 
> Regards,
>         Daniel
> 

Thanks Daniel,

Time to defend my thought...

If I wanted to know about issues common to Canberra and Melbourne, I
could read the Linux Australia mailing list. That is (partly) what it
is there for. Or I'd look up the archives of the LUV lists. This is the
CLUG list and it is called the CLUG list for a reason.

I don't remember if we have met: please excuse my forgetfulness if we
have.

Jacinta, on the other hand, has presented, with Paul (not that that is
relevant...), at CLUG-supported PERL user meetings here in Canberra
(which I have attended) and so _I_ would definitely consider her as
someone welcome to contribute to CLUG discussions, but, again, keeping
in mind that it is the CLUG list (not Linux Australia etc.).

I could go into all the trends of subscriptions etc. but it would be
a bit of effort. My take is that if it was a longer term trend, we
wouldn't have 650 at the moment. What I would be more interested in
is how many of them are from Canberra and the surrounding region, but
that is hard/impossible to determine from their e-mail address alone...

Anyways, we need to see what others come up with. CLUG has no leadership
as such, so this is just my own thought on the issue.

Cheers,

Bob Edwards.


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