Possible paid listserv summary & solution

["Mark X. Dempsey" <mxd2 -at- OSI -dot- COM>]

So far it appears money is no object, or at least a smallish object, to
many who respond to whether the listserv should be a subscription
service.

One poster sternly reminds us subscriptions can't be revoked once paid,
no matter how badly the miscreant poster behaves. (He didn't sign as
"esquire," though, so no telling how authoritative is this opinion.)

Others decry "corporate" (STC?) sponsorship as somehow limiting the
list.

How about this: If the current moderators can't find donated resources,
those who want to be "patrons of the listserv" pay something. If money
is so unimportant, recruiting these folks should be relatively easy.

This would preserve the free info, wouldn't inhibit list membership
(some would drop out rather than pay if subscription were mandatory),
and would keep things as they were, sort of.

Perhaps patrons could get links to their websites, or some other
incentive (TECHWR-L T-shirts?). It works for PBS...(Of course we'd have
to put up with fund-raising drives, celebrity auctions, and creeping
commercialism, but that's later.)

--
Regards,

-- mailto:Mark -dot- Dempsey -at- osi -dot- com
--
-- Mark Dempsey
-- Technical Publications
-- Objective Systems Integrators
-- 110 Woodmere, Folsom, CA 95630
-- 916.353.2400 x 4777

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