Project Gutenberg Listservers
Michael S. Hart
over Christmas Break. . .officially about 33 days from today.
Please make sure you keep these two addresses to get hold of us:
I have no idea where _I_ will be receiving my mail, but if we get
permission, the listservers should go to list...@postoffice.cso.uiuc.edu
I will keep you posted, and you will get test mailings.
This note is going to two lists, gutvol-l, for our volunteers, and gutnberg,
which is the general newsgroup.
There are now some 650 volunteers, which is still a declining ratio of the
total number of Internet users and also to the number of books expected of
each volunteer next year. We used to have three times the number of vols,
as we had books to do, but with the commercialization of the Internet, the
people are becoming more takers than givers.
Of course, if EVERYONE on the Internet [or off] does just ONE book, we can
have everything we could imagine in just one year. We can still be beacon
material for the idea that if a million people put in one book each, their
overall profit is to get a million books back for one put it.
There are about 4500 people on the general listserver, and the University,
or at least SOME people who are here, or used to be, think that we have no
good return for them on their investment of letting us put out computer on
their network, and to use a few of their computers.
About six months ago, when I first learned of all these possible changes I
asked the people on the general gutnberg list to each send in some money--
to date--99.5% of them have not, so it looks like the big general list may
be in some danger, though we have been VERY lucky in the past in getting a
server to take both lists when we were in danger.
There is a high liklihood that we will eventually have to pay for listserv
programs, something I cannot afford, especially this year, as I have to do
something about the mortage on my house, which was used to fund Gutenberg.
I will keep you posted on everyone over the holidays.
If you want to give a little something for Christmas to everyone. . .would
you please consider sending a few buck to Project Gutenberg. Book #400 is
scheduled to go out tomorrow [well actually is has, and #399 is the one on
my list for tomorrow, sometimes it just works out that way].
If we get those 400 books to just 1 or 2% of the world's population then a
total of 40 billion books will have been given away by Project Gutenberg--
at $1 each, we could afford to buy MicroSoft. . .but we are scrounging for
money, same as always, because we are not money oriented people. When our
hearts are heavy and our wallets are light, we tend to publish more books,
to make us feel better, rather than write grant proposals.
After all, which should be the cause, and which the effect. . . .
Most people have it backwards.
All my best to you over the holidays. Please keep those files and xeroxes
coming in so we can keep going during the holidays.
Again my thanks to you all.
Michael
If you are on the gutnberg list and your email stops, that is that.
If you are the volunteers's list and your email stops, please keep mailing
me until you get a response.