Things that Grex might do better

Sep 26 13:07 UTC 1996

   What things are there on other systems that you like, and
might be done here on Grex?

   I'm not thinking about technical things so much, as social
or administrative.  Given that Grex is *huge* compared to what it
was two years ago, I wonder if there what betters ways there might
be to do various things.

   Grex's policies have largely been born out of a distinct dislike
of over regulation and emphasis on freedom.  I think this approach
has been very successful, but I do stop and think about what things
we could do better?

response 2 of 143:

Sep 26 20:01 UTC 1996

That's a good idea.  But the list is short.

response 4 of 143:

Sep 28 02:04 UTC 1996

Grex should offer itself as an example to be followed (in local context) and
links to other similar systems is an excellent idea. This would be a real
service. Shouldn't Backtalk be a central part of this effort?

response 6 of 143:

Sep 29 07:02 UTC 1996

I like the idea of the links very much, and this idea of a library directory
sounds like the perfect implementation.  No one ever said that the directories
in / had to remain at the defaults.  The name may make us Un*x heads cringe,
and if it does in the spirit of ftp, how about /pub/docs?

response 8 of 143:

Sep 29 18:49 UTC 1996

what sort of thinks would go in the library?

response 10 of 143:

Sep 30 08:33 UTC 1996

WOW!! great! you betcha! thankxx!
  
there will be a README.TXT file entered within 48 hours with contents
approximating (comment here if you want) the list of topic subdirectories.
 
my first finger-frothing ideas would be for science, politics, health,
(?recipies?), EFF/CDA/etc, (?board minutes, minus comment?), URLs of
neat places with a short description, sports, and ..... other subdirectories
as suggested by ... y'all.
  

response 12 of 143:

Sep 30 13:27 UTC 1996

Also at /usr/local/grexdoc/archives is a copy of the bylaws, our
Articles of Incorporation, our Dungeon lease, and the language
and summaries of membership votes.

I believe it has also been setup that entering !minutes at
any prompt will bring up a list of all Board minutes.

Valerie, would you mind installing the text of our new lease
(xxx-ing out any security sensitive information)?

response 14 of 143:

Sep 30 14:28 UTC 1996

Re 7: At TS's request, the library directory has been renamed to Library
(that is, it's now /usr/local/grexdoc/Library).  He's created an account
called "library" to be the librarian.

Re 12: Will do.  Any suggestions about the file names?  That is, should I
rename our current lease to "lease.old" or "lease.dungeon" or something, and
the new lease as "lease"?

response 16 of 143:

Sep 30 14:55 UTC 1996

I dont think enough people read coop, so I'd like to see the Board
secretary start a mailing list and routinely emial out the board 
er..email out the board meeting minutes and other pertinent 
announcements.  This is routinely done on other systems.  There are
likely more members and users out there who would read these items
through a mailing list than would bother to come to coop or agora.

Just run a note in the MOTD that a Grex system issues mailing list
is being started that will include regularly the minutes of each
board meetings, special announcements, and the newsletter if that
ever comes off.  Anyone who wants to can sign up by emailing staff .etc

response 18 of 143:

Sep 30 15:12 UTC 1996

In most organizations minutes are mailed only to the board and committees.
In some, though, an offer is made for individuals to be sent them for
some fee (though they are always available to anyone). However on Grex
they are posted after the meetings. The simplest thing here is to routinely
post a note in the MOTD that the minutes of the meeting have been posted
in coop (item #), just as the meeting itself is announced in MOTD. No
need for a separate list. The newsletter ("if that ever comes off") should
be handled as a separate matter.

response 20 of 143:

Sep 30 16:22 UTC 1996

kerouac's 99.9 percent figure is obviously exaggerated, but his
basic idea is correct, the motd is a bad place to put announcements
intended for a small subgroup of Grex users.

Of course, the thought of subscribing every user on Grex to ANY
mailing list without asking them first is moronic, even by
kerouac's standards.

response 22 of 143:

Sep 30 17:32 UTC 1996

Personally, I feel that Grex has made minutes and other information
adequately available.  People have to read what's on their screen,
and type a few commands or click a few web links, but they can get
the information.  A mailing list might not be bad, but it adds some
work for a volunteer, to save some work for users, and I don't think
most volunteers would view the benefit as worth the effort.

Richard, since this is something you'd like to see done, how about
you do it?  You can maintain the mailing list, and forward information
posted in the co-op conference.  It would be a fair amount of work,
but if you feel it's that important, perhaps you'd be willing?

response 24 of 143:

Sep 30 21:11 UTC 1996

The users that don't know what coop is, and don't read the motd, don't know
that grex has a board, and therefore don't need board minutes.