[Am-info] Action needed, please respond. Gene Gaines

[Gene Gaines]

,

Fred Miller insists on dominating this list, often with
references to a news item a week or more old.

Essentially, this list has become Fred Miller's clipping
service.  Most of the contributors to the list have
given up and gone silent or unsubscribed.

Personally, for the past few months there is never
anything posted that I have not seen elsewhere or is off
topic.

Here are the posting statistics for last month:

Top 10 posters to the list:
     27 fmiller@lightlink.com
      3 eandrews@star.net
      2 talldad@kepl.com.au
      1 mikestp@shaw.ca
      1 madodel@ptdprolog.net
      1 gene.gaines@gainesgroup.com

So.  Fred posted 77 percent of the items, and
there were only 6 people who posted to the list.
Only 6.  That is pitiful.
Of those, 4 were further comments to a Fred post.
The remaining 2 were a (delightful) off-topic
posting on the U.S. presidential campaign and a
comment on that post.

I have another problem.  Several people on this list
have sent me, privately, what I consider to be dishonest,
shameful, vitriolic hate mail on off-topic issues.  As
a result, personally I have a developed an strong aversion
to communicating with these individuals.

I rush to say that all the private communications with
people on this list have been wonderful.  Positive,
polite, thoughtful.  Save those couple of nasties.

I spend time each day weeding out maybe a dozen SPAM emails
so that they do not reach the list.

What to do?  I will list some choices below.  Please send
me a response either publicly to the list or privately to me
as to what action you think I should take.  It is your list;
I am just a caretaker.  I will count the results and transmit
a summary to the list.

Choices:

1. Kill the list.

2. Restrict all members to no more than 4 emails per month
   to attempt to restore some balance.
   
3. Give the list members a test to see if anyone is listening
   or cares.  Most of the people on the list complain about
   Microsoft.  Are we willing to take even a small action to
   remedy what we are bitching about?

   Microsoft has failed to provide the documentation of its
   communications protocols that was ordered as part of the DoJ
   Antitrust settlement against Microsoft.  Now they are
   delaying because they say they plan to provide this infor-
   mation in a new document format that is proprietary to
   Microsoft.

   This is nonsense.  If I get the names, phone numbers and
   email addresses of the several key US DOJ officials and the
   attorney-generals of each of the states that was a party to
   bringing the antitrust suit again Microsoft, will you write
   an email (1) demanding copies of the protocol, and (2)
   demanding that there be no further delay, and (3) demanding
   that to information be provided in an existing, commonly-
   available document format?  And send copies to this list.

   Look, if the people on this list don't care enough to take
   any action, then there is no purpose served for the list.

4. Other.  If you disagree with my thoughts, tell me what
   action you think I should take.

At this point, I think the AM-INFO list accomplishes nothing
and is a waste of my time.

If you want to discuss in more detail, phone me.

Gene Gaines
gene.gaines@gainesgroup.com
Sterling, Virginia  USA
703-433-2081