[sdiy] new list: synth_diy @yahoo

[Jason Proctor]

personally i saw the unsubbing of a bunch of great list people as a 
watershed where something had to be done. the usual strategy of 
hoping the problem would take care of itself has failed. nobody else 
stepped up, so i did.

what's it to be? business as usual and accept the loss of great 
people as natural attrition? if that's the solution, i reckon this 
list is about dead already.

to address some points in turn -

- i'm not trying to move us to a forum. forum != mailing list. forums 
are sync blocking. bad for time management.

- we've been ignoring the troll for years, and while this strategy 
has worked for individuals, it has not worked for the group as a 
whole. the troll simply gets bigger until he can provoke the reaction 
he's looking for. which in this case is the unsubbing of list 
luminaries. the creation of a new moderated list does *not* serve the 
troll's purpose.

- there has been little to no moderation or facilities provided on 
the list for a *long* time. as long as i've been here, for sure. 
don't pretend there has, just because someone suggested change.

- yahoo isn't perfect, admittedly. if anyone has any suggestions for 
an alternative, go right ahead. i am no yahoo fanboy, for sure! with 
any service there are compromises. if anyone suggested hosting this 
list @dropmix *now*, they'd be laughed at.

- as i said in the list-creation email, i expect to be able to back 
off on the moderation if/when the new list gets going smoothly. read 
the thread.

- as for getting bored of being the captain, well, i'm not going to 
tire of email or synths anytime soon. and i'm responsive, so if 
people don't like my style, i'll give the list to someone else with 
no transition difficulties. *and*, most of the time the list runs 
itself. so, complain that i'm doing too much, or too little -- pick 
one.

- there are 25 members on the new list since last night. i'd call 
that good takeup so far.