Re: [Fsfe-uk] [Proposal] Mailing lists

[Alex Hudson]

On Fri, 2003-10-24 at 10:03, Chris Croughton wrote:
> about free software.  If I were coming to the list as a "list for
> talking about free software matters" and were confronted by loads of
> messages about how to elect a committee and how to distribute funds
> donated to an organisation then I'd likely leave again.

I disagree fairly strongly with this; especially the distribution of
funds. I don't see what could be more relevant to free software matters
in the UK. AFFS certainly cannot operate in a vacuum; distribution of
UKFSN donation is something we could dream up some faux academic board
process for but if it doesn't work for people who actually run projects
then it's worse than useless; it's actually damaging.

I've never seen fsfe-uk as a forum for solely abstract discussion about
what might be good or bad for free software. AFFS is not an end in
itself; it's just a tool. By hiving AFFS off into it's own ghetto we
risk it becoming an end rather than a tool. 

Let there be no doubt; if there is an affs-discuss list then this list
will mostly die sooner or later. I don't see that changing the name of
the list will solve any of the problems people find with this list. In
fact, if there is already a problem with too much 'organisational' mail
then it's actually going to get worse on an affs-specific list. 

Cheers,

Alex.