Re: discussion groups?

[Marc F Hult <MFHult@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Tue, 6 Jun 2006 11:36:42 -0400, "Robert Green"
<ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
<YJadnVw17vf8PxjZnZ2dnUVZ_vGdnZ2d@xxxxxxx>:

>"Marc F Hult" <MFHult@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>news:n8p98251p87n7eq4c6gjgos1iqpmtp4de0@xxxxxxxxxx
>> On Mon, 05 Jun 2006 06:07:31 GMT, "Paul Fielding"
<paul@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> wrote in message  <DSPgg.241763$WI1.153342@pd7tw2no>:
>>
>> >I've been out of the game for some time and upon my return see that the
>> >traffic here seems to have reduced *substantially*.  Is there a new &
>> >improved place that most of the general HA discussion has moved to?
>> >
>> >Paul
>> >
>>
>> This group was dominated for years by discussion of X-10 problems. Now
>that most of X-10's deficiencies are well documented and available through
>> Google, that traffic (or at least interest in responding to those
>> questions)  has dropped.
>
>That's due to a number of factors.  Dispersal comes to mind as the
>foremost. X-10.com hosts discussion groups.  Most X-10 newbies get their
>answers there.  That didn't exist when this newsgroup saw its heyday.  X-10
>newbies often got the "if you use X-10 your family will die" treatment by
>the anti X-10 contingency here.  People get tired of arguing against that
>sort of stuff.

Curious. Are you referring to alt.home.automation? Nobody that I can recall
wrote what you say here.

>It happens in every newsgroup, though.  People ask a question and instead
>of being offered help, or polite silence, they're told what a dumb choice
>they made.  What a way to win friends and influence people.  So the
>newsgroups have become sort of a bombed out Beirut of the '80's.  Life goes
>on - barely.

Not sure what you are referring to. Often/usually folks are asking or
implying a path/trajectory/options, and critiquing where they've been is
part and parcel of responding fully and usefully in my opinion. Is there a
hatchet here somewhere ?

>> With the advent of other accessibly-priced lighting protocols, traffic
>>for those protocols has migrated to their respective fora -- as it should.

>Yes and no answer to "as it should."  People in those fora should visit
>more often than they do because it's an opportunity to expose the HA
>community in general, which I believe CHA represents, to specific new
technologies.

Dunno what you are replying "no" to. In my opinion, X-10 should have been
split off into a separate newsgroup, namely, comp.home.automation.x10. That
way the net traffic is usefully organized ('usenet"). It would have resolved
part of what you refer to as "dispersal". The much more pertinent reason for
dispersal is because commercial interests sell more stuff that way and they
are *forbidden* by the comp.* charter to sell stuff here. Read the charters.

I participated in one of the re-arrangements of the rec.photo newsgroups in
the 90's that worked well. Folks who use primarily Nikon don't need
discussion about Canon lens (similarly Omni-Elk; Homeseer-Charmed Quark;
etc).  So there were/are topical -- not hardware based -- newsgroups for
general purpose discussion such as rec.photo.nature, rec.photo.largeformat,
rec.photo.darkroom, and a buying and selling rec.photo.marketplace.* . eBay
has removed most of  the negative sales-related pressure on rec.photo.*.
Conscientious self-policing continues to do is job in time-honored usenet
tradition.

Newsgroup maintenance and growth is lottsa work, but it had significant
benefits and added years to the longevity/survivability of rec.photo.* Of
course it _also_ required sticking to the letter of the usenet charter with
limited availability for commercial purposes. Sales folks have
alt.home.automation to post to.  'Nuff said bout *that* ;-)

... Marc
Marc_F_Hult
www.ECONtrol.org