AVR-Chat

On Sun, 2005-08-07 at 14:37 +1000, Don Ingram wrote:
> >   I am somewhat surprised at the amount of negative response (though
> > I did ask for it).  I wonder if perhaps an informal "vote" isn't in
> > order?

> Think of it being friendly & constructive more so than simply negative
> as that is the intent.

  Of course.  I meant "negative" in terms of the imolementation, not the
intent of the commentary.  *grin*

> I accept your point that a rolling conversation on IM is likely to
> build friendships. That is great. But I am also aware of how much good
> information has slipped thru the cracks over the years by simple
> issues such as poorly targeted subject lines on emails.

   Or emails where the good information is buried in hundreds of lines
of extraneous text that no one has bothered to edit out.

> Lists such as this are a valuable resource & form a beneficial archive
> of knowledge. When done correctly, emails distil a conversation to
> it's essentials, people have time to contemplate a reply & edit if
> necessary. 

   Agreed, for highly detailed information in poarticular, the mailing
list is a superior source/resource.

>  Merely copying chat to the list will produce reams of banter which
> conceals the valuable data contained therein.

   Oh,Great Ghu!   I wasn't suggesting that chat logs be posted to the
mailing list!  What a horrid idea!  No, no, I meant that the ideas
gleaned couldbe shared on the list, not the actual conversations.  That
would be a terrible waste of bandwidth and people's patience.

> At the end of the day you are free to do whatever you like. The point
> that I and others are making is to be aware of the resultant costs as
> well as the perceived benefits.

  Of course.  That is the nature of the Internet.  My reason for asking,
however, was to see if it is worht persuing, since if the majority of
folks here and on similar lists won't be participating, it is pretty
much a waste of my time.   

  I participate on a chat channel on eFnet named #nop, which is
dedicated to discussion of embedded controllers of all kinds.  The ideas
and information that come from that are truly amazing.  There can be a
synergy when a few fertile minds start bantering on technical issues
that is beyond belief.  As a result of that time you so very rightly
point out that people often take when responding to emails, that synergy
seldom occurs on email lists, in my experience (and I have been working
on and with email lists for abut 25-30 years now).

  It was just a thought.  Apparently not very many people are
interested.  Sad.

Tom