Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2005 12:24:06 -0500
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>,
        WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>
From: "Mike B." <omni at omniphile.com>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Concerning the draft of WSFA minutes; WSFA lists
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>

At 06:49 AM 11/18/2005 -0800, N Lynch wrote:
>--- Elspeth Kovar <ekovar at worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>[snipped for length]
>> This was news to me and, it seems, to everyone who
>> wasn't at that
>> meeting.  (That Keith is *not* the proprietor of the
>> WSFA list should go
>
>Let's try to nip this in the bud, as unfannish as that
>may be, before anymore misunderstandings occur.  The
>question - and it was just that - a QUESTION - was: is
>a non-WSFA member was allowed to have a WSFA email
>address?  The QUESTION (if I could use italics I would
>- consider this italics) came up because, back in the
>dim mists of time, there was some motion passed about
>non-members of WSFA not being able to use a WSFA.org
>email address.  Don't recall the circumstances.  When
>the QUESTION was asked, it was answered that yes,
>indeed there was memory that a non-member could not
>use a WSFA.org email address.  The next QUESTION -
>just a QUESTION - was if Keith had dropped out of the
>club or just from the duties.  A reasonable
>clarification, if I could offer an opinion, and the
>answer was he had dropped out of the club totally.

Technically, Keith is still a member.  He has stated that he will not
attend any more meetings, and he will not renew when his membership
expires, and he has resigned from all elected or appointed positions...but
he is still technically a member at the moment.

That doesn't change the question in question though, as eventually he will
not be a member anymore...if his current plans don't change anyway (and I
have no reason to expect that they will).

So, is *Keith* "using" a wsfa.org address, or is *WSFA* using keith's list,
at his invitation, to have a place for members and ex-members to chat?

Keith's list is "WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net"...which is -not- (my notation for
italics, so I can still SHOUT where necessary) a wsfa.org address.  WSFA
has chosen to point wsfa.org's MX (Mail Exchange) DNS (Domain Name Service)
record to the same place, so you can currently send to either address and
it will get to this list, but that was WSFA's choice at the time, and is
subject to change at WSFA's whim.  Steve Smith and Barry Newton volunteered
to look into options so that the club can discuss this in a more informed
(about options) manner next month.  We'll need someone to take over Keith's
duties as contact, webmaster, etc.  (Ernest's minutes of the last meeting
are in error if I remember correctly on this point...Steve and Barry agreed
to look into lists, they didn't take over the webmaster job, even
temporarily...that wasn't handled at that meeting and the two most likely
candidates were not present) in order to make the necessary changes though.

>So, combine the two answers and the QUESTION was, to
>the best of my recollection, should the WSFAlist be
>run by a non-WSFA member with a WSFA.org email address
>when one of the rules was that a non-member could not
>use a WSFA.org email address?

That's my recollection of the question too.  It does imply some lack of
understanding of the situation and technology though.

For instance, if I (a WSFA member) post to this list using the wsfa.org
address, the address is being used by a member, so all is well and good,
right?  The problem would come when an ex-member (the other sort who are
permitted on here) posts...and this list has *always* been open to
ex-members (some may even decide to become members again...stranger things
have happened).  WSFA was aware of this, and approved of it.  If ex-members
can make use of the list with WSFA's permission, what difference does it
make who runs the list software?  If not Keith, who is at least an ex-WSFAn
(eventually anyway), then it will be run by a non-WSFAn ISP somewhere...as
the "wsfa-forum" is now.

How is it better to have the list run by a non-member than an ex-member??
How is it better for WSFA to take on the task of running its own list,
rather than piggybacking on Keith's (so long as his invitation to do so
remains open anyway)??  I've heard no valid complaints about Keith's
management of this list...he's done a fine job, and I doubt we are going to
find a better or cheaper alternative anywhere.

If it's just the use of the "wsfa.org" domain that's the issue, the
ex-members can post to KeithLynch.net instead...I do that anyway.  This
won't change if WSFA points the wsfa.org MX record at a different server
and sets up a different list.

>I'm not
>sure if it was at the meeting that I heard the
>suggestion that all Keith had to do was change the
>email address to his own, which he has done, I guess.

I pointed out that WSFA could change the WSFAlist at wsfa.org address to
another server without Keith's help (assuming someone else has taken over
domain management and has the access...something that is needed anyway
since Keith is leaving).  Keith hasn't changed anything here that I can
see...it's always been his list, on his server, with his software, and
using his address.  WSFA just piggybacked on it.

Anyone who want's a discussion of how e-mail works can talk to me at a
meeting.  I probably won't make it to the next two...I'm recovering from
eye surgery.  I'll see how my night vision is doing this evening, but I'll
probably miss tonight's meeting.  If it can't wait, Steve Smith and
probably a few others can explain it as well or better.

-- Mike B.