[ARIN-consult] [arin-announce] Consultation on Whether ARIN Should Have a Public ARIN Discussion Mailing List

[William Herrin]

On Tue, Jun 21, 2022 at 7:54 AM ARIN <info at arin.net> wrote:
>  1.  Should ARIN have an “arin-discuss” mailing list that is open to
> all for overall discussion of ARIN topics (conducted in accordance
> with ARIN’s normal rules of decorum)?


Yes, ARIN should have general discussion list open to the general public.

I note that for 25 years those discussions have happened on PPML
Consider whether PPML traffic is heavy enough to need to split the
lists. There were all of 8 messages last month and only a few dozen
the month before. Are folks who -want- to discuss ARIN public policy
generally disinclined to participate in broader ARIN discussions?


>  2.  If ARIN creates an arin-discuss mailing list,

It should absolutely not be given the same name of the members-only
mailing list than ran 1999 to 2021. It's not immediately obvious to me
why that list was retired last year only to be re-created under a new
name this year.


> should the list be prepopulated in any manner?  For example, if the
> new list “arin-discuss” is created, should it be prepopulated with those
> who subscribe to arin-ppml at present?   A topical discussion list isn’t
> very effective without a sizable base of participants, but ARIN has had
> poor experience in the past with prepopulating mailing lists.

That's a messy question. Folks react poorly to being auto-subscribed
to mailing lists without their consent, even when it's because a list
is split.


Anyway, glad to see the discussion happening. Thanks John!

Regards,
Bill Herrin

-- 
William Herrin
bill at herrin.us
https://bill.herrin.us/