Date: Tue, 2 Aug 1994 06:24:38 -0400
From: Logical Language Group <lojbab>
Message-Id: <199408021024.AA07748@access1.digex.net>
To: lojban@cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu
Subject: Lojban List traffic
Cc: lojbab@access.digex.net
Status: RO

A couple of points here:

1. Traffic on this list seems to vary, both in technical level and in
volume.  Right now it is relatively high volume, though the technical level
should be within reach of the interested novice.  When we get into the
intricacies of Lojban stylistics, that is obviously a little more 
difficult for the novice to follwo; likewise heavy technical linguistics.

2. It would be nice if our Listserv had an option for digest form, as some
apparently do.  But we didn't choose our host based on features.

3. About 2 years ago, there was suggested a classifier system for
headers that would separate out TECH: stuff from GENERAL: stuff, and also
give some clue as to difficulty for Lojban text.  It was used for a couple
of weeks, but people didn't stick to it, especially when volume dropped
very low for a while.  Such a system makes sense only when there are a lot
of threads of greatly varying difficulty, or when someone wants to filter
out all but the most general informational announcements because they really
aren;t interested in learning Lojban now.  If we set up a list for
announcements only, a lot of people would prefer this, but the traffic would
be incredibly light - usually less than 1 per month, and we can't justify
asking for (or paying for) such a mailing list.  People in this category 
usually just subscribe to le lojbo karni, which in normal times will be
a short digest coming out every several months with news and status.

4. At LogFest, there was talk of setting up a newsgroup for Lojban, possibly
tied to the list, recognizing the greatly increased volume of interest since
Veijo set up his www page (are we past 1500 people yet Veijo?).  A group
of people volunteered to be a committee and look into it, but as with most
LogFest committees, this one seems to have disappeared the moment the
meeting broke up.  I'm not even sure who is on the theoretical committee.
Anyone out there want to speak up???

The most likely solution will be to set up a newsgroup, probably either a
bit.listserv.... group, or an alt.lojban group.  Then people can use 
threaded newsreaders to go through the discussions more efficiently.  We
would keep the list for those without access to those hierarchies.

The main problem is that it is difficult to automatically route traffic
both ways.  You can automatically put newsgroup traffic into the list,
or maybe vice versa, by an automatic process, but if you do both, you get a
feedback loop.  There may have been some kid of technical problem with one
of the two directions, also.

I suspect that the alt.lojban group is the future, but someone OTHER THAN ME
is going to have to do the work.

lojbab