response 6 of 357:

Jun 16 07:19 UTC 2010

set up an IRC server
set up a newsgroup server
set up a gopher server

these retro services will attract the only people who really care about 
unix places like this anyway.  Hippy nerds chowing down on granola and 
trail mix.

response 8 of 357:

Jun 16 19:10 UTC 2010

Maybe gopher will make a comeback?  Hmmm...
 
The idea of a retro system has been tossed around a bit.  It is one
way to go and one thing we can continue to do (text conferencing, for
example).  We could do more retro things, of course.  Along this line,
installing more programming languages, debuggers, databases, and other
apps that can be run or used at the command line might attract some new
users (even if they aren't "retro").

GUI apps tend to use too many system resources for a small multi-user
system.  Perhaps if we got a better system...

Becoming a member of Grex gets you access to more features, like
outgoing access.  BitchX and ircII are available, for example, if you
are a verified (not validated) member.  These are command line programs.

I don't know that being only a retro system will attract a large
community of new users willing to become members, though.  We're more
likely to attract new users with newer means of communication or at
least a fresher interface to the conferences and email.  And of course,
we'd need a more open new user policy than what we have now.  The
latter assumes the system can be set up so that juvenile twits don't
cause frequent issues. Being destructive is so much easier than being
constructive...

Not everyone wants to use Facebook or Myspace or Twitter.

response 10 of 357:

Jun 16 19:56 UTC 2010

Grex needs to start allowing graphics in its conferencing posts.  
Everyone who blogs or conferences these days uses pictures and such.  

In addition backtalk needs to be changed to start allowing posts to be 
edited.  In most other places you post on the internet, you are given 
the chance to retroactively edit your entries at least for a short 
period after posting if you choose.  Here you make a typo or a mistake 
in a post you have to delete the whole thing.  

response 12 of 357:

Jun 16 22:34 UTC 2010

Sadly, "/b/ isn't your personal army." /g/, however, can promise users to
break new ground in raid organization and allow libertarian militias to roam

> Here at Grex, Everybody Gets Their Own Personal Army [of One]

response 14 of 357:

Jun 16 23:55 UTC 2010

I like the idea of editing posts. If we had someone who could change
backtalk reliably, we'd be in business for that as long as there were no
policy reason against editing (I'd assume if each user owns their own
responses such that they could delete them, they should also be able to
edit them).  I've seen on some systems where a note is added to the post
to indicate when it was edited so that readers know it has been changed.

I'm not sure about the graphics.  It would be neat in some respects,
but as soon as someone starts posting images that will get Grex in
trouble with the law, then we'd need to start moderating responses,
which doesn't sound good.

response 16 of 357:

Jun 17 00:15 UTC 2010

Obviously, you can cut and paste links to other sites in a conference
response but the conferencing software doesn't interpret those links to,
say, display an image.

response 18 of 357:

Jun 17 01:01 UTC 2010

The only issue I can see with allowing users to edit their previous
posts is that sooner or later some troublemaker is going to go edit it
their posts in such a way as to make it seem like responses to the
original post were in response to the original post. 

I might enter an item entitled 'HOw many joints have you smoked this
year?' and most everyone will say zero. Then I could change it to 'How
many times have you had sex this year?' har har. But people could make
others look dumb. The only solution would be to cut and paste the
original post into the response which opens up a whole nuther can of
worms. 

response 20 of 357:

Jun 17 02:08 UTC 2010

re 17: Maybe some of us like censorship you hippy!

response 22 of 357:

Jun 17 02:51 UTC 2010

See?  I need to edit #21.  I guess I should delete it and enter it
again.  What a pain.

response 24 of 357:

Jun 17 03:40 UTC 2010

When you do it that way, it is very clear which responses occurred
before the edit and which after. 

response 26 of 357:

Jun 17 04:50 UTC 2010

editing can be allowed for a short time after posting (say an hour or two)
and after that the only way left would be to delete and re-enter.

response 28 of 357:

Jun 17 07:04 UTC 2010

re #26 Yeah many boards that are out there let people edit posts for up
to an hour or two after the post was made.  I know that when Backtalk
was first installed that Janc, who wrote it, said the edit function was
in the program, that he wanted to have it as a function, but that staff
objected to its use on grex just as they had objected years earlier to
having an edit function with picospan which clearly could have been
done. It seems the objection was that it would give too much power to
the trolls.  If grex was like a newspaper, well once the newspaper is
printed you can't edit an article that is in it. When you hit 'enter'
you are in effect publishing your post just like an article.  I think
giving posters a window of time to edit their posts is not going to
empower trolls.

response 30 of 357:

Jun 17 13:56 UTC 2010

bellstar is a trip,I wish his ass would come back to m-net