Re: New formats? was Progress

[Jeffrey Sorenson <jsorenson@xxxxxxxx>]

Hi, my name is Jeffrey Sorenson and I've been lurking for some time too. 
I suspect there are likely others as well, does anyone know how many are
subscribed?
I much agree with several points below.

John Aspinall wrote:
> 
> Matt Gokey <mgokey@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> makes a pertinent observation:
> >  But oftentimes I get the
> >feeling of we've been here before.   I have been a member of this
> >mailing list for a relatively short time (yr+?), and have found that the
> >discussion rarely proceeds through an idea or question in a coherent way
> >or to a satisfying depth and the same or similar topics surface again
> >and again.
> 
> I think at least two factors combine to cause our current state:
> 
> (1) The varying experience of the list members.  There is very little
> shared background knowledge that a poster can count upon.  The result is
> that postings with serious innovative technical content get bogged down in
> discussions about vocabulary, and derailed on tangential issues.
 
Some software that can handle threads would surely solve this. I'm sure
that the 'muddle ratio' would decline if it wasn't just a jumble of mail
in our inboxes but was accessible in "thread format" like deja news or
the newsgroups. Subgroups on Open Go, on graphics and rendering, on the
n dimensional stuff, tournament standards and many other topics would
provide focus that would enable better communication and co-operation,
would be quickly organized if a forum were available. Can we not just
spawn another group or two like rec.games.go? 


> (2) The small size of the (active) list membership.  A productive
> discussion needs a critical mass of informed, active participants.
> Combined with factor (1), the sheer lack of numbers means we can't sustain
> a discussion.

Cooperative resources can achieve a lot. How many are we?  I would
provide web page space for archives of discussions, all the comp.sci
theses we can find, many of us are chasing the same resources over and
over i think. I'll provide some server space and admin for such an
effort.  Netmeeting or other groupware could help with 'seminars' on
different topics if there are interested participants and possible
archives of that material kept.  Suggestions welcomed.

BTW: I am highly impressed by the widespread goodwill, cheerfulness, and
good attitudes I see displayed here. 
:)
jeffrey sorenson