On Sat, 20 Oct 2001, Dan Shafer wrote:
I'm somewhere between a novice and a Zopista, I suppose, so I imagine I am representative of the majority of the folks who hang out here.
Speaking for me, I don't find either the volume or the level of the traffic on this list to be so onerous that it calls out for the creation of a second more technical list.
And not to put too fine a point on it but to suggest not only that we need a new list where obviously experienced Zope developers like Mr. Bengtsson don't get "bugged" by people asking them to explain technical questions but that such a list should be closed smacks dangerously of elitism.
The Zope community doesn't seem to me to be so large that segregating those "in the know" from those who are desperately trying to be "in the know" is a great idea.
I may just be one of those people who "won't ever need to use" stuff I ask for more detail about, but I deeply appreciate the positive and helpful attitude exhibited by virtually everyone on this list when I even think I need such assistance.
It's nice that people remember what was hard for them when they were starting out and are willing to help novices even if it takes a few extra minutes of time to do so.
Dan -- I think the question of closed lists has more to do w/ clueless commercial postings than excluding new users. I agree that having experienced users helping new users is a good thing, but honestly (falling more in the experienced camp than the new user camp), I do find the list traffic too overwhelming to read every day, or often even to scan every week, and therefore, I'll let it go for weeks at a time. If there were a place where I could catch the medium-level, technical, interesting questions that affected my level of Zope learning, I'd have more incentive to read & contribute. As it is now, I do find myself gravitating more toward ZopeZen, ZopeLabs, and other places that offer useful ideas to me than the ML. And I think that the best web-based discussion board in the universe sucks compared to email lists or newsgroup lists in terms of speed, searchability and interface, so this is a Bad Thing. Something to give intermediate/advanced users a place to think and work doesn't seem elitism as it does sensible. -- Joel BURTON | joel@joelburton.com | joelburton.com | aim: wjoelburton Independent Knowledge Management Consultant