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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] ikonboard, a better solution to a listserver

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  • From: Robert Mullins <mullins@gaelicmysts.com>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] ikonboard, a better solution to a listserver
  • Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2008 19:48:34 -0600

Well, to be fair the question was 'how to get more people involved' and 'how to get a better presence' for the group. Bulletin boards is how you do it. If your goal is to simply stay the same and watch your membership dwindle then definitely you should stay with the way things are. The board members see the dwindling membership and want to do something about it, and rightly so. In addition, I do not have a vested interest except I am very interested in seeing the past preserved, especially with regard to antique apples and the like. It is much easier to secure and back up a highly structured and organized database as what is used in a bulletin board format than in a 'mailing list'. Backing up a mailing list simply saves all the information in a big, fat file, however backing up a database is structured, so that the data 'makes sense' and can easily be un-packed and re-used.
'Rooting' was absolutely accurate when he described email listings being 'antique', but it would be more descriptive to say it's 'archaic' from a technological perspective. I have wide interests, and read across the board in many disciplines and I simply don't know anyone still using mailing lists as a repository of information. You said " I want to see a better argument against the email list than that somebody thinks it is "antique"." Well, with technology this is a very real, and good argument. Just as a good reason why NOT to buy a Model 'T' Ford would be that you just can't find parts to them. I'm not saying that it wouldn't be cool to have one, but it's functionality is greatly diminished if not pretty much useless. If you want to have a 'Model T' out of fascination that is 'OK' but from what I get out of the past comments about mailing lists 'fascination' is not something you want in your information dispersion methodology. In addition, I am not one of those 'kids' who needs the shiny, and new to be interested, but as a new subscriber to NAFEX how will I get to something you posted here 5 years ago? With bulletin boards I could search that out even though I was a new subscriber.

My perception is that NAFEX wants to be electronically viable as well as increase in membership. In order to do that the Pomona magazine needs an overhaul as well as the way information is dispensed. Information availability is very important in this information overkilled world, and I personally don't know anyone who wants to pour through around 100 emails a day just to get to information they are interested in. I myself considered turning off the email flood I get from NAFEX because it's just way too much.



Road's End Farm wrote:
Oh I read it. I want to see a better argument against the email list than that somebody thinks it is "antique". (I'm not saying there are no better arguments; I just haven't seen any yet that convinced me. Opinions will vary, I'm sure.)

Of course, you're posting this to a group in which the word "antique" (as in "antique apple") is most often a compliment.


On Feb 17, 2008, at 8:12 PM, Robert Mullins wrote:

Amen brother, hopefully 'Roads End' is reading this as well.

-rob

rooting wrote:
Having read several comments about the listserver which NAFEX
uses, the current technology used by NAFEX is antique. The
most groups do not use e-mail for delivery. Rather they have a current
flow of information by topic using a board typically used by blogs.

Off topic, I have contributed to and frequently visit the mandolincafe
http://www.mandolincafe.net/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi
Mandolincafe is a specialty 'group' of people interested in playing
the mandolin. Soon they will have their 500,000th posting.

I suggest that the NAFEX webmaster(s) take a look at Mandolincafe
which uses a free program from
http://www.ikonboard.com/
This program can be used on the http://nafex.org
<http://nafex.org/> server


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