Scirocco List Admin + other stuff

[Brett Van Sprewenburg <brett@netacc.net>]

I have read the input from a variety of people on this, and I appreciate
the outpouring of support, suggestions and ideas.  I'd like to put a
stake in the ground over a few issues though:

* There will never be any membership fees to gain access to this mailing
list, our website or any related material, not if I have any say in the
matter.  This list works pretty well, informal as it is.  I'd just like
to have a more professional, full featured, on line presence.  I'd also
like to offer up more scirocco.org material, like so many of the suggestions,
to support our particular 'brand' of a club. ;)

* I will never agree to having our site or mailing list hosted or
maintained by another corporation.  While I appreciate the suggestions,
it is absolutely not the way to go if we can possibly manage it.
Here's a example problem tidbit for you, from my cable service:

----------------
Network Status

Note that the timestamps for each item aren't the time that the
problem starts, but rather the time that it is entered on this page.

Current Problems:
Date: 2/23/2001 1:19 PM
Mail from eGroups.com is currently blocked, as the eGroups
servers have been sending a huge amount of unsolicited email to
Road Runner customers, nationwide. Only eGroups can fix this issue,
as it is caused by the quantity of junk mail they are sending us.
Egroups may be reached by emailing abuse@egroups.com, or by phone at
408-530-5062.
----------------

Let me reiterate:  We (the group as a whole, and a trusted individual
specifically) should always run the list, the site, and own the machines.
There does not need to be any more discussion on this, please.  If it's
something important to you (us) then keep as much control of it as you
(we) can.  There is no compelling reason not to control our own
list, site, and servers if some member of the list has the abilities,
the time and a little money.

* I already have a machine to host the mailing list and web site.  I
am already paying for cable access.  If this is not enough bandwidth
(384 up, 1 down), I am prepared to purchase more.  I have already paid
into a dynamic dns service.  I am participating beta test for new
features with that service so I can move registered host names on top
of the dynamic ip.  Static ip is best, but expensive.  I have also
explored colocation, but the first one I approached was way too much
money.

* Neither the site nor the list is in any immediate danger of being
shut down at the moment.

* I will create a budget given several options on additional hardware,
bandwidth, and static vs dynamic ip.  We'll talk about list member
support ideas after I generate some figures.  This stuff takes time.
This will also involve probably setting up some sort of possible
contribution scheme so that I might be able to purchase more storage,
bandwidth, or even afford colocation, which seems to be alright with
most people here...appreciate it very much.

If anyone has any specific questions about any of this, please feel
free to contact me directly off list.

==Brett

 \/  '84 Scirocco (ITB racer 2B) | "Hot VW's, take two home. They're small"
\/\/ '88 Scirocco 16v (Show), '92 Passat 16v (Winter+) | - brett@netacc.net

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