Options for a new listserv?

[Lazlo]

I wanted to ask everyone's opinion on what they think would be a good direction for the listserv?  I'm not willing to let it go, but 9 years ago when it was moved over to google groups, it was never the same.  For whatever reason, John Sroka moved it over - I suppose due to the dwindling support and people moving enmasse over to other platforms.

I suppose with me it's the tradition of getting my information via email and uncluttered with photos and ads as you would get from facebook.  Pictures are nice and there is some merit to it, but the tradition of disseminating information over email means something to me.  It's really cool that after all these years, we are all still on!  I have no idea how many people are left on here, but I'd hate to lose touch.  I'm sure we lost touch with a ton of people already.

I've looked into installing listserv software on a dedicated server (which would be prone to the occasional internet outages that I go through) and perhaps maybe there are other "free" or even pay-based sites that would work far better than google groups.  I guess the option is there to just simply start a new google group with the same name where it can be moderated.

Or in the end is it all worth it?  I like the ability to go months or years, send a message, and boom - still get replies from some of the core users.  That's really cool.

If any of you would be interested in some future version of the listserv, I'd be willing to compile a list of names and email addresses so that if and when something new comes about, I could notify you.  Feel free to email me at my same email address I've had for over 20 years at silentATbeatriceneDOTcom or my google one erinDOTlassleyATgmailDOTcom and I'll compile a list and keep your info offline.

I'm open to suggestions as well.  Managing a private listserv can be quite involved and does have the potential to be abused with spam (which requires active management.)  There is also the option of having a facebook page which would serve as a supplement to a listserv where pictures could be shown as well as utilizing the page as a way to shuttle people to the listserv.  I guess we also have the option of leaving things as they are, but with a moderator I have no idea how much longer this will last.  It's not being actively maintained and new users aren't able to join.  I would like to think that maybe since there are long periods of inactivity, John just doesn't check it any more or maybe he has met with an untimely demise.  Covid has been brutal and I'm sure if something happened to him, this listserv would be the least of his families worries (if they even know about it at all.)

Let me know what you think.  Being honest is fine.  If disbanding and letting it rest sounds good, though sad perhaps it would be realistic?  

I better get ready for work so have a think and let me know if you guys think we should do something to preserve our listserv.

NQ

[Dave C. Bolen]

NQ,

From a 50 year IT perspective I suspect it was moved over to googlegroups
so that it was free. No servers to worry about and if emails that are
flowing thru this group get the same scan as all gmail messages then it
is pretty safe.

The admin side of it is probably pretty easy and straightforward as long
as someone still has the credentials.

Finding who "owns" the group might be difficult but not impossible.

this page might be helpfull.
https://support.google.com/groups/#topic=9216

Cheers, dave

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[John Sroka]

Hi everyone.  The VintagVW discussion list is still on Google Groups, I think some of the issues you are reporting are that Google is making list participation a lot harder without each subscriber having a Google id.

The last post before these recent threads was June 2020, per the footer all posts are archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/vint...@googlegroups.com back to 2008.

Subscribe/Unsubscribe options used to be simple, it appears now that Google is asking for a Google userid for a subscriber to self-serve their subscription status.  For now, any questions about list subscription can be sent to my personal address john....@gmail.com 

The 2012 migration from ListProc to Google Groups was due to the University's migration to the Google Education suite, non-University lists were asked to move elsewhere.

NQ, thanks for your ideas about the list direction; happy to work with you and any others who are interested on list future and possible transfer of list ownership. 

Best,

John

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/vintagvw/alpine.DEB.2.22.394.2111030828050.183880%40dcb-Gazelle-Professional.localdomain.

[Lazlo]

Oh thank goodness you're still here John!  I was wondering if you might have left us so I'm really glad that is not the case!

First off, do you know why I can't reply to any messages from within the google groups interface itself?  I'm assuming it has something to do with security on the list and preventing spam.  I'm now starting to get messages at my other email address so I'm assuming that Nick Stokes (the vw radio guy) is starting to get them as well.  I suppose it's a bit of shock to see the last message come through June of 2020 and then bam - a year and half later have the list awaken again and start seeing activity come through on the group!

It seems we will have a small die-hard group that would like to the list to continue.  I'm not a big fan of the google infrastructure myself, but just because I don't like it doesn't mean that it can't serve a useful purpose for others.  

I really liked the old listserv and the ease by which people could join and unsub and you could do it without having to have a gmail account.  It looks like listproc is opensource and requires a linux box to get it working.  I think the saddest part is the old sjsu address which is still to this day slathered all over online as the place to go subscribe to the vintagvw list at.  I don't know that anyone who searches for the listserv would rightly know where to go.  We just happen to know because we were on the list at the time.

I do find this google groups interface to be a bit more difficult to navigate.  I miss just having individual emails show up in my box and being able to reply.  Since my email is aliased through my Internet Provider, if I subscribe to anything, the conflict between my root account and aliased one causes the server to reject my messages.  So then I have to log into my webmail interface in order to get a post through.  I'm still using a outlook express - hacked to work on Windows 7.  I have a Windows 10 machine, but it sits dormant most of the time while I enjoy getting by on as old of an O.S. as I can.

I can understand why you chose google groups.  For as semi-dead as the list is, it makes you wonder if it's worth putting any more effort into it.  So much has switched to facebook and thesamba and a plethora of other sites, but still I must admit that I like the purity of a listserv - no pictures, no html, and overall it takes a bit of an effort and technie know-how to just get signed up in the first place.  If you're that sharp that you can understand how it works, then maybe you're worth talking to - LOL!

I gotta get to work, but thanks for jumping in and letting us know you're here.  I'm willing to help in whatever capacity I can.  My wife and I live in the country and we had to set up our own private wifi network to get the internet we want, but I have the option of setting up a server at the host site, but of course nothing is as robust and utilizing something that is already online with the caveat being that you don't have full control.

Keep the ideas rolling everyone.

NQ

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