[FFML] A thought on the future of the FFML

[The Wanderer]

On 06/25/2013 12:39 PM, Paul Henkel wrote:

> Hi
> 
>> The recent post by Gary Kleppe, and responses to that post,
>> concerning the ever-waning post population of the FFML has gotten
>> me thinking.
> 
> There is no advertisement for the list.

This is an important point. How should people (prospective contributors,
whether authors or providers of C&C or even just lurkers) discover that
the list exists? Does it even currently present more of an
Internet-facing profile than simply the subscription interface?

>> [...]
> 
> As for the rest, having a forum style frontend does not mean the end
> of email based system. There is no need to stop the list to add this
> at all (text only even as it is now). And it was done many times
> before. The only problem I see are the costs of running such a
> system. And creating links to be posted into the social web is then
> only a little jump, just be sure to redirect the responses to the
> system.

If you're proposing what I think you are (either a Web-based forum which
automatically posts to the list, or transforming the list into something
which automatically posts to and receives posts from a Web-based forum),
the other problem I see is the one of quoting styles.

What constitutes good quoting in a Web forum (much less in social media)
and what constitutes good quoting in E-mail are different things. I've
gone into detail on that in the past - in rec.games.roguelike.angband,
IIRC, after a proposal to create a gateway between that group and the
more active Web forum - and can do so again if need be.

If that problem can be satisfactorily addressed, I think I might like
this approach. (And I'm about as hardcore a proponent of mailing lists -
including specifically plain-text mailing lists - over Web forums as
you're likely to find.)

-- 
    The Wanderer

Warning: Simply because I argue an issue does not mean I agree with any
side of it.

Every time you let somebody set a limit they start moving it.
   - LiveJournal user antonia_tiger