[Coco] List Permanence (was: Re: On the other hand of the "19 years" thread - has anyone thought about a "succession plan" for this email list?)

[RETRO Innovations]

On 2/4/2025 1:59 PM, John Guin via Coco wrote:
> I do NOT mean to be a downer here.  I want to start a conversation about what we can or should do if/when the server currently hosting the coco email list is no more.
I don't think you're a downer, but I also don't think this is a major
concern.  If the server disappears and the list is no more, a number of
us will congregate on an alternate platform to decide on a suitable
platform. Groups.io seems to be the favored solution as of late for
vintage groups, and there's even a ColorComputer list already set up
there you can subscribe to.
>
> Based on the replies to the (years old) email thread, some of us, including myself, get a great deal of value from this email list.  Again, not to be blunt, but Dennis simply cannot be expected to maintain this list forever or even for the next X years.
No, he cannot, but I think he's happy to do so, and I'd be cautious
about trying to move the list from someone who is actively supporting
it. This may be how Dennis stays connected in a way to the system.
>
> So what can we do to maintain an email channel of communication?  If a 'permanent' solution for email exists, can/should we go ahead and move to that now?
Opinions will vary, but I don't think a move is warranted at this point.
I assume that, barring some unforeseen issue, Dennis will send a note to
the list when he decides he'd like to pass on the reins, and we'll all
have a bit of time to find a new home for the list. Like I said, there
is already a ColorComputer at groups.io list in place, but it does not get
a lot of use. I suspect that's because this list has traction and
history.  Moving elsewhere jeopardizes both of those things.  As well, I
suspect there are a lot of former CoCo users on this list who stay
subscribed for various reasons, but I doubt they'll go to the trouble to
subscribe to a new list. Thus, for this, I'd recommend keeping the list
here until the maintainer decides to retire from list support.
>
> Again, just trying to get people smarter than me to start thinking about this,
> JohnG
>
I would encourage folks to subscribe to the groups.io list, if only to
have a backup.  There are also some other potentially interesting groups
on there:

https://groups.io/g/ColorComputer

https://groups.io/g/MC-10

https://groups.io/g/RetroAbout64K (some MC-10 stuff)

https://groups.io/g/CoCo3FPGA



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