Date: Sun, 12 Feb 2006 02:52:52 -0500
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>,
        WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>
From: "Mike B." <omni at omniphile.com>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: New list (was Re: This list is... )
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>

At 2/11/2006 10:47 PM, Walter Miles wrote:
>Rich responded to Keith:
>
>KL>> This list is no longer an official WSFA project.  In a
>...
>
>RL> Why don't you, then, rename and broaden the list (to
>RL> something like "D.C. fans list") and make it open to more
>RL> people than just current and ex-WSFAns?
>
>It would certainly make it a different list.  I imagine that Keith
>would feel bound to keep the archive of this list separate from
>that of the putative new list, to keep his commitment of privacy
>for current and former WSFAns, unless every participant in this
>list agreed to expose the archive to the new membership.
>
>It seems like a small thing, but I think it would be contrary to
>the stated conditions of the list's management.

Good point.  Given Keith's tendency to stick to the letter of what he's
said, I think it's likely to be an important one for him...depending on
exactly what promises have been made in the past.

Personally, I think Rich's idea is a good one, but it's Keith's
list.  Whether the archives are "capped off" and stored differently or not
isn't a major consideration for me...I don't mind new folks seeing them too
(though I'd prefer it if they weren't Googleable)...but I'm not everyone
who's ever posted here, and I'm not sure everyone who has is still around
to ask.

The archive question is one of the reasons I don't like using Yahoo...while
they are maintained for now, Yahoo makes no promises of what will happen to
them in future.  They could be deleted at any time and without warning for
instance...says so in the TOS.  Lack of archives could easily lead to
interpersonal problems in WSFA...as memories seem to be very subjective and
not always congruent with fact.  Being able to access the exact text of
prior posts is one way to determine the difference between fact and
fiction...and that need could come up years later, as we've seen recently.

-- Mike B.
--
Murphy was an optimist.