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Skriven 2013-11-11 21:57:50 av Lee Lofaso (2:203/2)
     Kommentar till en text av FidoNews Robot (2:2/2.0)
Ärende: FidoNews 30:45 [03/07]: General Articles
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Hello Everybody,

 FR>               GENERAL ARTICLES

 FR>           Letting dead echoes lie
 FR>             By: Kurt Weiske

 FR> An open letter to all:

 FR> There are more dead echoes than there are live echoes in Fidonet.

There are live echoes, inactive echoes, and dead echoes in Fidonet.
I am the one and only legitimate moderator of the CONSPRCY echo.
No private elisting has any official status in Fidonet, as has been
the history of this network.

Thom LaCosta had put forth a private elisting that moderators and
sysops could update themselves, but his effort was abused by some
misguided souls.  After Thom's computer crashed, Janis Kracht tried
to maintain it, or somebody she had named to do so.  But even so,
that private elisting never had any official status.

Other private elistings existed, some outside of zone 1.  In the
same light as Thom LaCosta's private elisting, none of those elistings
had any official status in Fidonet.

Anybody can do this, even without the use of a computer or
software.  Just enter the data with a pen/pencil in a notebook.
Or use index cards.  Works quite well.  :)

 FR> Scanning through online archives, many of them have, as their only
 FR> message traffic, automated posting of the rules - to be read by no
 FR> one.

So what?  Each and every sysop is free to have his/her own elisting.
Individuals are free to create their own echoes, and distribute those
echoes throughout the network (with a little help from sysops).  No
sysop is required to have a thousand echoes on his/her system, even
if those thousand echoes are very active echoes.

 FR> If you have a dead echo, please consider letting it die. Fidonet will
 FR> be a more lively place with fewer echoes carrying traffic rather than
 FR> an echo wasteland where people can't find the active echoes.

Let's say an individual creates an echo, naming himself as moderator
of that echo.  He invites participants, the echo is active for a while,
then participants lose interest and move on to other things.  Should
the moderator give up his own echo due to lack of participants?  It
could be the moderator had more important things to do, such as going
off to war, or getting married, or having a life.  Besides, anybody
can create a new echo, naming themselves as moderator, setting rules
for that echo, etc.

 FR> Otherwise, if you have a dead echo, wear your moderator hat and start
 FR> a dicussion! I'm sure there are other people like me around; I have
 FR> the backbone linked to my system; I'm sure others like myself will
 FR> join in.

That may be.  However, private elistings can, and have, been abused.
As such, sysops should be open to adding new echoes that have been
created outside the backbone, making those echoes in effect part of
the backbone.

The role of a moderator is to help facilitate discussion, not
hinder it.  It makes no difference if an echo is on the backbone.
Participants will participate in echoes they feel welcome.  A
moderator who continuously chides participants will quickly
find himself having an empty cave for an echo, where the only
sound that is heard is the echo of his own voice.

 FR> Lastly, if you want to see more traffic on Fidonet, adopt an echo.
 FR> Pick a dead echo, advertise it here, and let's see if we can get
 FR> people talking again.

I hereby adopt my own echo as my echo.  :)

Lee Lofaso
Moderator, CONSPRCY

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