MSGID: 1:153/757.21@fidonet f41f0564   
   REPLY: 2:280/464 6133330a   
   PID: OpenXP/5.0.50 (Win32)   
   CHRS: ASCII 1   
   TZUTC: -0400   
   Hello Wilfred!   
      
   ** On Saturday 04.09.21 - 10:45, you wrote to me:   
      
    WvV>>> That. And the fact that areas can happily exist without being   
    WvV>>> elisted...   
      
    AA>> But the elist method makes the process self-serve for a   
    AA>> creator/moderator   
      
    WvV> What does this mean?   
      
   The initial comms to the bot can be performed at any time, and     
   some results would come back within an hour or so.  If it were     
   just a "user" requesting to create an echo for a topic of their     
   interest they would first have to convince their sysop to go     
   through the trouble to create it and spread the word. Whereas,     
   the elist-bot method [1] "creates" the echo, [2] establishes a     
   pretty standardised message with a description, and [3] gets a     
   spot in a .NA file that is distributed to boards everywhere.   
      
      
    AA>> *and* the existence of an echo is automatically published   
    AA>> in its respective .NA file that some bbses refer to see   
    AA>> "available" echos.   
      
    WvV> The elist and the NAB (list) are not the same thing. The   
    WvV> set of areas in both probably overlap, but are not the   
    WvV> same.   
      
   Why be burdened over that distinction?  The whole point is to     
   announce that an echo exists and anyone, NAB or not, can pick     
   it up if they want.   
      
      
    WvV> And being in either list doesn't automatically mean an   
    WvV> area is available at your link. You still have to check   
    WvV> the %LIST response.   
      
   Noted. At some point people interested in participating in an     
   echo need to consult with their sysop, or a sysop has to     
   perform the %LIST and request to add it anyway.  But the     
   initial elist-bot process is something anyone could do to get     
   something started at their convenience.   
      
   Why was the elist-bot system even built in the first place if     
   it wasn't intended to provide a more organized way to create     
   and announce the existence of echos?   
      
      
   --   
     ../|ug   
      
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