From clonewheel@snc.co.uk Mon Apr 30 12:28:31 2007
Subject:Re: OT: New 100% Organ-related groups I made (then I'll shut up OTing ;))

I am a long time lurker and rare contributor on this list, but I value,
and have learned much from this community over the 5 or more years that
I have been subscribed. The beauty of the list is that it is NOT
product-specific, and I have learned all manner of things about new and
old clonewheel products, hardware or software - it is THE place to hang
out.

I might be in the minority here, but I think that creating all these
extra groups is not particularly helpful, as it fragments the
clonewheel space so that there is no longer a single place to go to
find out about and ask clonewheel-related questions.

I can see the usefulness of creating new groups when the CWSG is
swamped for an *extended* period of time on a particular product (e.g.
as has happened previously with the electro, nordstage and musereceptor
groups), but this should really only happen when there is a critical
mass of users/owners of that product.

To keep up with the world of clonewheels now, I need to subscribe to at
least 10 lists: CWSG, NordElectro, NordStage, nordc1, vk_corral,
SpeakeasyVintage, KeyB, DoepferD3, B4000, CloneWare.

I am guessing, but I would think that the last 5 of these have not yet
gained critical mass, and would therefore benefit from staying within
the CWSG.

Whatever I or anyone else thinks about this, the internet is
a free world, so it is therefore legit to start whatever groups,
whenever. I just personally don't think that in this instance, the
fragmentation is helpful to the clonewheel community at large.

Anyway, assuming I now have to be subscribed to 10 groups, in order
to stay up on the world of clonewheels, could the list administrators
at least turn OFF the menu item that allows you to view the list
membership, since this is such an easy target for the spammers to trawl
for email addresses. The CWSG does not allow you to see list member
profiles, and AFAIK, I have never received any spam from this list. The
same is not true of (e.g.) the NordElectro group, where I regularly get
SPAM posts.

I shall now beat a hasty retreat to the world of lurking....

Papa J