A few months ago Antoine started off the svg-coders mailing list (with support from ILOG) based on irritation we'd had for ages with how low-quality and high traffic svg-developers had. The subscription list was high, and included a fair number of high-profile people in the SVG community (as well as in the Perl community, which I think is great).
For a long while it stagnated, which was a pity, and I thought it was a failed attempt. But surprisingly enough, in the past few days it has seen over thirty posts and it might in fact be alive :-) What's more, the posts have been of enjoyable quality, and one of them even quoted the wolf book...
One day I'd like to read a long and detailed paper on mailing list dynamics. They are truly interesting.
Re:The AxKit list
darobin on 2002-08-10T18:59:00
Indeed, I've noticed that as well. I think there's also the fact that during quiet periods people might not remember to post to the list for help (some people do not use email much and find any list high-volume...).
As for the continuous flow, I guess it really depends on many more factors than the number of subscribers. Subscribe Len Bullard to the axkit list and you'll get your continuous flow for sure
;-) Re:The AxKit list
jdavidb on 2002-08-16T13:46:11
The Expectperl list has been silent going on two or three weeks now, but we have amazing bursts of high traffic, too. I've been thinking of just coming up with a "here's something useful I did in Expect.pm" post to see if I can get things going again. (Maybe "how to subclass Expect.pm.")
Re:The AxKit list
darobin on 2002-08-17T00:31:04
Yes, Antoine and I have been thinking about similar devices for svg-coders, especially as that list has a great number of the best SVG people I know and we're starting a book on that topic, so we could use the input.
PS: Is there any specific reason for your new sig? I ask because it seems disparaging to the work of people that try to do their best and do provide a very useful tool. I'd like to know if that's the case, and if so why.
The sig
jdavidb on 2002-08-19T14:22:13
Sorry; I didn't mean it that way AT ALL!!! If you look at one of my recent posts under the new search.cpan.org thread, you'll see what I was talking about: people were saying, "But how could someone who doesn't even know how to install modules or know why he should use them [or type at a keyboard or reboot a computer or plug in a mouse -- I'm exaggerating] EVER figure out what these COMPLICATED, CONFUSING links at search.cpan.org mean?!?!?!?" and my response was that such folks were not ready for CPAN.
Thanks for pointing out the sig could be misinterpreted out of context. I am changing it post haste.
Re:The sig
darobin on 2002-08-19T22:22:02
I thought as much, it didn't seem like you at all which is why I was surprised
:) Thanks for clarifying, I pointed it out because though I definitely trust you to not say that kind of thing it did feel misleading and I did hesitate for a few seconds. Sorry if the not quite native I am missed the humour :) Re:The sig
jdavidb on 2002-08-20T13:03:40
I think the humor was missed because of me and a lack of context, not because of you.
:) it didn't seem like you at all which is why I was surprised...I definitely trust you to not say that kind of thing
Thank you!
To clarify even further (since I read the sig yesterday while I was erasing it), the emphasis was on the phrase "first stop." A complete newbie to Perl does not need to go to search.cpan.org the first day. (Except maybe to find out what's out there and why he should keep using Perl.) If he can't figure out how to hover the mouse over a link to see if it leads to an HTML page or a tarball, he's not yet ready for CPAN's goodness. Though he may be soon.
