At 06:42 AM 12/19/96 -0500, you wrote:
>I'm new to the list, so pardon me if I'm misinterpreting the thread...
>It seems to me that we should be able to define some flag which an
>auto-archiver can recognize, be it a text string in the welcome message or
>a special command (similar to a robots.txt file on a webserver) which tells
>the auto-archiver or human reader what is appropriate to archive and what
>is not.
Brewster Kahle (sp?) of archive.org has suggested a header line that
basically says "Do Not Archive This List."
I dislike the idea, because it seems to me that makes the default
"Archive This List Unless The List Admin Has Heard Of Brewster's Header
Line" -- in other words, the default is for the list to be archived
unless you do something different.
I firmly believe that legitimate archivers will ask _first_ before
slurping up your stuff (what do they have to fear otherwise?). Thus
anything that makes the default "slurp first, ask later" is
objectionable to me.
I wouldn't mind a "Go Ahead And Archive This For Me" header, but
for their own reasons, the archivists haven't proposed _that_. Go
figure.
(Each side is out for whatever makes life easier for them -- as a
list owner, I want one thing, and as an archivist, someone else wants
something to make THEIR life easier. Unfortunately, though, it's
my list not theirs, so my desires win, says I.)
--
/\ /\ /\ /\ Kynn Bartlett / kynn@idyllmtn.com
/ \ / \/ \ / \ Idyll Mountain Internet
/ \ //\ /\ \ / \ <URL:http://www.idyllmtn.com>
'_| _` // \/ \__\ '_| _` HTML Writers Guild Governing Board Member
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