List Changes & Administrative Nightmare

["H.Durstling" <sinico -at- NBNET -dot- NB -dot- CA>]

Hi Folks,

I'm very new on this list and come to it from the writing and expression
side of the spectrum rather than tools-and-techniques. I'm also an avid
gemcutter and goldsmith, a hobby that constantly threatens to get out of
hand. In my gemcutting capacity I'm a member of the "facetor's digest", a
list quite similar to this one, with over 900 subscribers.

That list also is run on a volunteer basis by one individual who maintains
a a low-profile but firm presence at the helm. Rarely do things get out of
hand. But if they do, the offending party is unsubscribed and that's the
end of it.

The point is that that list works as well as it does precisely because it
is run by one individual whose sense of judgement is known and respected.
It seems to me the same applies for TECH-WRITE.

"Summum jus, summum inuria": the more we make laws the more we make
criminals. To try to anticipate and codify every issue which might come up
if this list moves to a paid subscription basis would indeed result in an
administrative nightmare. Each individual stipulation would bring up half a
dozen "yes but's" to be resolved and regulated in turn. Stipulations do
that. Before you knew it you'd have created a bureaucracy.

In my brief time on board, this list strikes me as well run and useful just
as it is, which in turn is a direct consequence of the list owner's
exercising his sense of judgement. If I buy a book I'm paying for the
author's style. The act of buying is a gesture of appreciation which does
not confer any rights upon me but says "I want this just as it is."
Similarly with subscribing to this list. If it works well now why handicap
it with a rule book? The only useful proviso, in my view, (suitably
phrased) would be "list owner rules, OK?".

For that, I will gladly pay 5 bucks. Or 10$, or whatever it turns out to
be. Rule books make me nervous. They grow, exponentially.

Cherrs,
Hans Durstling
Moncton, Canada

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