Hey Danny!   
      
   Dec 10 16:49 05, Danny Ceppa wrote to Maurice Kinal:   
      
    DC> That's partially because the user base has shrunk.  IIRC, there were    
    DC> over 3,000 Echoes in FIDO.     
      
   How many users?  Can the user base support that many echoes?  Does the user   
   base WANT to support that many echoes?   
      
    DC> The one Echo I moderate that I'm worried about is SIMPSONS.  It    
    DC> used to be a viable Echo.  But, the moderator left and it got    
    DC> "rescued".     
      
   And?  I fully realize it is difficult to make a good judgement call soley   
   based on numbers but perhaps there is a workable solution for all concerned   
   especially the users, or perhaps better put potential users.  For instance -   
   not that I am suggesting you actually do this - maybe there is an echolisting   
   where the SIMPSONS would be better served if it weren't exclusively   
   'Simpsons'.  I like the Simpsons but feel no real need to talk about it in   
   Fido except maybe how it pertains to some other wider, more encompassing   
   subject, perhaps the state of affairs of TV comedy and/or cartoons.   
      
   Probably a better example are PC's and any computer based hobby or user based   
   sounding board, which on the surface seems to be apt echoes for Fido.  How   
   does it serve the users when the echoes are too narrow in their focus, LINUX   
   for example, if the user is restricted to discussing the pure topic without   
   being allowed to compare and contrast to other OS's?   
      
   I am just using that as an example btw but I think it helps to illustrate what   
   I believe my point to be.   
      
    DC> By the time I got to take over, it became a very pale shell of    
    DC> what it once was.     
      
   They are ALL like that.  Overall I think someone(s) really need to discuss the   
   issue seriously in order to stem the obvious tide that isn't working   
   favourably for Fido as a whole, users and sysops.   
      
    DC> A Moderator needs to be active in their Echo.  And no, not as a    
    DC> Moderator unless necessary.  Popping in out of the blue because a    
    DC> someone requested Moderator intervention doesn't cut it.     
      
   Neither does a heavy hand methinks.  I believe discussion, serious or   
   otherwise, is always a preferrable method for problem solving.  Without it   
   nothing seems to be accomplishing what the goal appears to be, Fidoally   
   speaking.   
      
   No?   
      
   Life is good,   
   Maurice   
      
   --- Msged/LNX 6.1.2   
    * Origin: The Pointy Stick Society XV - Linux Point (1:261/38.9)