What's the "C" for again?

[Rich Littleton]

See edits on edits on comments below.
______________________________________________________________________

*****  Unless stated otherwise, this message may be forwarded.  ******

On Wed, 12 Aug 1998, Bill S wrote:

> Hi Rich;
> 
> I'm not disagreeing but we do need to think of other factors.
> 
> On Mon, 10 Aug 1998, Rich Littleton wrote:
> > 
> > I just came from teaching regular folks how to use e-mail tonight at Green
> > Lake Library. My "in the trenches" experience tells me that forming
> > community is not where SCN is lacking (though it doesn't do much there
> > either).  SCN's major stumble-and-fall is that it cannot provide service.  
> > 
> > Even if we do a successful PR campaing, will we solve such problems as:
> > 
> > 1.	Adopt an e-mail program that is easier that the 2 Unix options?  
> > [Right now we do not.]
> Installing a graphical e-mail system such as Eudora, Netscape Communicator
> or whatever depends on getting a SLIP or PPP connection working

TRUE, BUT THEN LET'S DO THAT FIRST BEFORE ADDING MORE USERS.
> 
> > 
> > 2.	Get enough volunteers (and org. resources) to actually TEACH
> > incoming people how to use SCN?  [Right now we do not.]
> This means first defining what it is we need to teach them and how to get
> them to come to classes. 

TRUE, BUT THEN LET'S DO THAT FIRST BEFORE ADDING MORE USERS.
> 
> > 
> > 3.	Offer a WEB browser that will handle the current (and coming)
> > graphical technology.  [Right now we do not.]
> 
> Again dependent on a SLIP/PPP connection which is up to hardware/software.
> We also have to consider where the point is when we stop looking like a
> community service and start being in competition with commercial ISPs. If
> all we do is duplicate services that any local or national ISP provides
> then we're asking for trouble. Ken has lots of info on alternative
> browsers and we should consider something that keeps the cost down.
> 
TRUE, BUT THEN LET'S DO THAT FIRST BEFORE ADDING MORE USERS.
> > 
> > 4.	Set an organized process to recycle computers from the community?
> > [Right now we do not, except for Sharma's lonely efforts.]
> > 
> > 5.	Effectively lobby city, county, and state governments for publicly
> > funded trunk lines (e.g. to rural areas where users have to buck
> > long-distance costs)   [Right now we do not.]
> > 
> > So many decisions.  If we get to be successful providers, will be call
> > down the wrath of Republicans and commercial IPs for undercutting them?
> 
> Yes, we probably will. There's another ongoing discussion relating to
> problems other Freenets are having with the IRS over their tax exempt
> status and the whole concept of Freenets. We need to be looking at what we
> are planning for the future but also staying aware of the limitations of
> our 501c3 status.
> 
TRUE, BUT THEN LET'S DO THAT FIRST BEFORE ADDING MORE USERS.
> 
> I'm not going to move it there but might suggest that this discussion and
> the overall Freenet situation discussion might be moved to the scn.ideas
> forum so more people would be able to contribute. Anyone else in favor of
> that ?
> 

Hmmmmmmm.  That might just dump the discussion into a dark and rarely
visited corner.

Rich

> Bill S
> bk846 at scn.org         "Warning:Dates on the calendar  
> billhs at speakeasy.org   are closer than they appear."
> ****Unless otherwise stated, this message may be forwarded*****
> 
> 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *  From the Listowner  * * * * * * * * * * * *
.	To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to:
majordomo at scn.org		In the body of the message, type:
unsubscribe scn
END