jellinghaus-robert@CS.YALE.EDU (Rob Jellinghaus) (02/14/88)
A while ago, I posted an article in which I proposed that some sort
of feedback mechanism should be implemented for the comp.binaries.mac
and Info-Mac archives. By this I meant that it would be very nice to
get some sort of form message indicating receipt of one's postings.
Too often one posts to either of these two facilities and never hears
from them again (until your postings *maybe* show up several weeks
later).
Now, I do NOT intend this as a condemnation of the moderators. I
realize that they work VERY hard (harder than I would like to) to
create this immensely valuable and helpful net.resource. But I do
think it would be nice if the moderators could send out a simple
message upon receiving a submission. Too often, people submit,
become frustrated at the long delay, and wind up flaming the net.
This feedback policy would help to cool tempers all over the net.
The rest of this posting is a copy of the messages I received that
agreedthat this would be a good idea. (I also received one very
nice message from Lance Nakata, explaining that they are way behind
because of the difficulty of catching up with the Christmas backlog,
and telling me that he had received my Crystal Quest posting. Thanks,
Lance.)
<Messages begin>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
For my part, I'd be delighted if the moderators of comp.{binaries,
sources}.mac would acknowledge receipt of contributions. The pipeline
is long, and the net is lossy. (That's "lossy" not "lousy.")
--
Ephraim Vishniac ephraim@think.com
Thinking Machines Corporation / 245 First Street / Cambridge, MA 02142-1214
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
I got this message (twice). I don't recall your earlier message. I think that
it would be a good idea if the moderators did give such feedback, though.
--
=Spencer (spencer@crim.eecs.umich.edu)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anyhow... I agree that "Article received" feedback from the moderators
would be a good idea. The biggest problem with it is that the
moderators are already overworked, and mailing responses would make
matters more difficult for them (especially in the case of unusable
addresses such as those in your message). Info-Mac has suffered through
almost two years of irregular digesting due to the fact that different
people have been moderating it at different times; not infrequently, the
moderator is tied up doing job-related work (the stuff he's being paid to
do) for several weeks, and can't spare the time to digest any new
messages. Add to this the fact that the moderator is frequently far
distant from SUMEX, and must access the system via its TELNET connection
(which is infuriatingly slow during the workday), and it's understandable
why stuff doesn't always get acknowledged or posted properly.
We just gotta do the best we can, under the circumstances.
--
Dave Platt
UUCP: ...!{ames,sun,uunet}!coherent!dplatt
Internet: coherent!dplatt@ames.arpa, ...@sun.com, ...@uunet.uu.net
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
I like your idea of getting a "receipt" every time you make a submission.
This could be a simple canned "Thank you for your submission" message.
Perhaps personal mail to the moderators might get them to see/act on your
proposal.
--
=========================================================================
Robert Hammen Computer Applications hammen@csd4.milw.wisc.edu
Delphi: HAMMEN GEnie: R.Hammen CI$: 70701,2104
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
I think it's a great idea, and yes, you exist.
--
Steve Baumgarten | "New York... when civilization falls apart,
Davis Polk & Wardwell | remember, we were way ahead of you."
...!cmcl2!esquire!sbb | - David Letterman
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
<Messages end>
The above is NOT INTENDED TO PRESSURE THE MODERATORS, but merely to
acknowledge some widely held OPINIONS on what MIGHT be a good idea
for the net. (Take that, flamethrower-wielders!)
Thanks for your patience in this long posting.
Rob Jellinghaus | "This is not a RENTAL car...
jellinghaus@yale.edu | this is PRIVATELY owned!!"
ROBERTJ@{yalecs,yalevm}.BITNET |
!..!ihnp4!hsi!yale!jellinghaus | -- _True Stories_stuart@ihlpf.ATT.COM (S. D. Ericson) (02/17/88)
In article <23082@yale-celray.yale.UUCP>, jellinghaus-robert@CS.YALE.EDU (Rob Jellinghaus) writes: > A while ago, I posted an article in which I proposed that some sort > of feedback mechanism should be implemented for the comp.binaries.mac > and Info-Mac archives. By this I meant that it would be very nice to > get some sort of form message indicating receipt of one's postings. > Too often one posts to either of these two facilities and never hears > from them again (until your postings *maybe* show up several weeks > later). I agree that submitters need to get an "acknowledgment" response from the moderators. Additionally, it might be very beneficial if, from time to time, the moderators would post a list of software that is PENDING to be posted to comp.binaries.mac. All too often I've seen people SAY they are going to post, or that they posted something, but I can never tell if I just missed it, or it was posted long ago, or there is a significant wait. Could you moderators post a list every other week or so of all the backlog? Once again, thanks a *LOT* for all the work you do in making comp.binaries.mac a *BIG* success and a *GREAT* help to those of us who only have USENET access. Stu -- Stuart Ericson USnail: AT&T Bell Laboratories USENET: ...!ihnp4!ihlpf!stuart IH 6M-313 voice: (312) 979-4152 Naperville-Wheaton Rd. Naperville, Il 60566