Web4Lib Admin: Re: need for new list?

[Peter Murray]

Since it seems like 10% of the subscribers have weighted in on this issue
the past couple of days, I thought I'd add one more opinion.

The thought of one more e-mail list doesn't faze me.  I must be on about 15
or 20 right now of various volumes.  Heavy use of filtering is the only way
to survive (my tool of choice is 'procmail' on a UNIX box, but Eudora does a
really nice job from what people say).

What I don't think will work is trying to teach someone how to program in
Java, JavaScript, or Perl over a mailing list.  The mailing list or
newsgroup format works well for posting snippets of code and asking for
suggestions on how to improve or correct something.  IMHO, if you want to
learn a programming language, the best way is a class or a good book and
lots of experimentation.  A mailing list like "WebProgL" would die under its
own weight if the majority of questions asked were of the variety "Can you
write a script for me that...?" (just as "Web4Lib" would likely be less
useful if there were requests like "Can you write a web page...?").  I fear
that this is what would happen with the WebProgL list.


Peter
--
Peter Murray, Library Systems Manager                    pem at po.cwru.edu
Digital Media Services                 http://www.cwru.edu/home/pem.html
Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio          W:216-368-5888