Re: Policy for posts from non-members

[Valentin Petzel]

Hello Andrew,

mailing lists have, but not all people have, and even if they have they do not 
necessarily have experience with mailing lists. Many people have (if at all) 
experiences with internet forums and recently with chat groups such as 
Discord.

If a random person is looking for some help in Lilypond and click on the 
Community page there is a point:

Contact: get help, discuss, and keep in touch! 

which then refers to the user list, but it simply states

User mailing list: lilypond-user@gnu.org 
This mailing list is the main place for users to discuss and help each other. 

and then gives a few links for subscription and info and archieves. This 
already assumes that the visitor knows how a mailing list and list etiquette 
works. I think it is not unexpected that some people do not, and some people 
might just be happy they found an email address to contact.

So while I support Jean’s suggestion I think it is important not to assume 
that there is something wrong with people getting it wrong, but to give them a 
chance to learn how to use a mailing list. And this involves not simply 
rejecting them, but telling them why they are being rejected (e.g. by an 
automatic reply such as Jean suggested). But even more so the point

User Discussions and Help

on the webpage should probably be reworded to make it very clear that you 
should be subscribed to the list to make posts, such as:

User mailing list: lilypond-user@gnu.org

This mailing list is the main place for users to discuss and help each other. 
If you need help with a problem subscribe to the list here[link] and send an 
email stating your problem to lilypond-user@gnu.org. Please understand that to 
avoid spam you must be subscribed to post a message. Using the provided link 
you can control if and in what manner messages to the list are send to you.

Cheers,
Valentin


Am Mittwoch, 22. Februar 2023, 00:20:37 CET schrieb Andrew Bernard:
> Dear me, mailing lists have been around for half as century or more. If
> people do not understand that it is normal to subscribe to a list to
> participate there's something wrong. Just reject the posts. That's very
> standard, and that is why the list software supports that option. Jean
> you already spend a huge amount of time helping people on the list, the
> administrivia of dealing with people who can't be bothered to spend a
> minute to sign up is not worth your time. If you don't make this change
> you will just be doing this useless task forever.
> 
> [Of course the moment I post people will provide proof of lists that do
> not need joining, but seriously, most lists do. Also, services such as
> Reddit require registration. It's a very basic concept.]
> 
> Andrew
> 
> On 22/02/2023 9:36 am, Jean Abou Samra wrote:
> > Hi,
> > 
> > I've not been an admin of this list for very long, yet I'm already
> > weary of telling people who post without being subscribed to the list
> > that they should subscribe in order to avoid each of their messages
> > being manually approved.

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