Re: For Discussion: Is it time to consider migration?

On 12/12/2011 09:00 AM, Pacosito wrote:

All this intense navel gazing is really impressive.

A meta conversation isn't exactly navel gazing, especially when it involves plans for change and improvement.



But it is
absolutely missing the point. ASP was started as a means to facilitate
communication amongst a widely dispersed group of people with a common
interest.


For pete's sake, how did I miss that? Gosh.


At the time it was formed, it was near revolutionary. We had
things like pipe shows and snail mail flyers with sets of photographs
of pipes for sale. Going to show was like the journey toward
enlightenment. People went to these things to talk and interact with
folks who had compiled knowledge. We received some of this "wisdom"
when we paid our respect. How quaint!


I don't think Mr. Masticola considered his creation revolutionary in any way - more a natural use of new technology for this "quaint" activity.



So this Internet thing shows up and now folks who are so inclined now
have a way to communicate with each other much more rapidly. Those
folks who are so inclined decide to participate and bring with them
the rules of decorum and civility and apply them to the world of
Usenet. With mixed results. And then folks with a somewhat more
"casual" approach point out that there really are not any "rules" for
participation and things get a bit free-wheeling.


Actually, even on Usenet, there are a number 100% moderated forums - or more correctly, newsgroups. ASP itself started out as a "lightly moderated" newsgroup.



Fast forward to today. There's a million different forms of
communication and methods of access to all those forms. But there
really is not enough attention span in the slip stream of the pipe
world to achieve what ASP used to do.


Yup, there are lots of glitzy distractions, but ASP is a seminal format that will survive. Kind of like email is doing. Kind of like Morse Code among those who know how to use it.



People: there has always been at
least SOMEBODY bleating about the signal to noise ratio of this place.
The folks who made up what ASP used to be and the content that some
are pining for are long gone. And even if they are lurking, they
certainly do not want to "step out" and expose themselves to the
Internet equivalent of disdain. Everyone needs to deal with the fact
that ASP is no longer able to serve its original purpose.


As a nice old actor often said in one of his best rolls (i.e. Henry Morgan as Col. Sherman Potter), "...Horse Puckey!"




So deal with it. Come up with a new "mission statement" to take care
of what can be taken care of and stop trying to pave over cow paths.


No one here's trying to "...pave over cow paths". The goal I think is to simply recruit some fresh blood to the ranks. Don't really think there's a need for a new "mission statement". The original applies just fine.


If you need free server space for ASP with no ads, get in touch with
me and I'll see if I can come up with something for the group. I've
helped out before and I'd be inclined to do it again if there is a
real need. But there really doesn't need to be all this angst.


You're mistaking a clear headed recognition of changing times and a desire to continue to gather together and even to teach, with 'angst'.

There is no;

"...acute but unspecific feeling of anxiety; usually reserved for philosophical anxiety about the world or about personal freedom..." here (definition of the word 'angst' from the Linux online dictionary...).

You make it of course, difficult to accept your help, given your snobbish approach to the perceived issues. ASP on Usenet is a lot like Morse Code and email - an antique which survives and functions in spite of all sorts of newer developments - in spite of glitzier versions of the same thing.

One way or another it'll just keep on keeping on.

I've essentially quit the maintenance of the current ASP web site (which will expire in March), but another member has decided to build a version of his own on his own resources and with his own ideas. So thanks, I guess, for your offer, but I don't think it'll be required.

regards,
Bert
--
To those who have served or are serving the cause of freedom, whether in peace or in war, at home or abroad, thank you. Si vis pacem, para bellum. "Let's roll!", Todd Beamer, United Airlines Flight 93, September 11, 2001. http://www.canaltownanvil.org
.

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