[946] in Public-Access_Computer_Systems_Forum
Zen II and Exploiting the Market
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Public-Access Computer Systems For)
Fri Aug 7 09:43:42 1992
Date: Fri, 7 Aug 1992 08:37:29 CDT
Reply-To: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <PACS-L%UHUPVM1.BITNET@ricevm1.rice.edu>
From: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <LIBPACS%UHUPVM1.BITNET@ricevm1.rice.edu>
To: Multiple recipients of list PACS-L <PACS-L%UHUPVM1.BITNET@ricevm1.rice.edu>
From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@vmd.cso.uiuc.edu>
Subject: Re: Zen II and "exploiting the market"
What can I say?
I have never heard of computer accounts that can't store the 175K file.
Nor have I met anyone who could not find out how to use their email. . .
sometimes you have to ask a few times to get the right person. . .but an
easy phone or two call can take care of that.
However. . .even if all this were true for some portion of the population,
our focus is toward the future here at Project Gutenberg, and those who do
the most complaining seem to have mastered email enough to complain.
When we receive relayed messages from those who do NOT have direct access,
then we know we are dealing with people who need help, which are are going
to provide, in both paper and etext forms, as per preliminary negotiations
with the publishers interested in "A Child's Garden of the Internet."
Since we get about the same number of complaints saying Project Gutenberg
is too simple and too slow, as we do saying we are to complex and too fast,
with an enormous majority in the middle, then I have to presume our work is
somewhere approximating the right track.
However, for anyone to accuse us of trying to hold back paper publication
is not at all accurate, and they should reread their sources and not confuse
us with others. . .tho I have yet to see anyone say they are against paper
publication of net manuals. . .only that they are against paper publication
TO THE EXLUSION of etext publication. A very similar argument to those who
would have you believe that Project Gutenberg is against markup because we
promote plain vanilla ascii anyone can read. We only only against markup
philosophies that work TO THE EXCLUSION of etext publication.
Since A Child's Garden will be released to the nets, anyone can print any
number of copies they like, whether they are terminal oriented or not. . .
but the terminal is going the way of the dinosaur, and XT computers are
going for so little that terminal emulation is the default.
I don't understand the tone of the messages to which I am responding,
they are very defensive, as if they think Project Gutenberg is closing
doors. . .rather than opening them.
Any non-inflamatory reply would be most appreciated, either to the lists,
or to me personally. Flames will be allowed to incinerate themselves.
Thank you for your interest,
Michael S. Hart, Professor of Electronic Text
Executive Director of Project Gutenberg Etext
Illinois Benedictine College, Lisle, IL 60532
No official connection to U of Illinois--UIUC
