[EM] {Process} Collective ordering of SW standards

[Rob Lanphier]

On Mon, 4 Mar 1996, Steve Eppley wrote:
> Though it makes sense to try to focus on one standard at a time, it
> won't derail us if we deviate some.  Messages can (should!) include
> links to the standards and methods that they address, such as:
>    {{Majority Rule {{Plurality {{oxymoron
> so we can easily find them later when discussion eventually focusses
> there by searching for "{{Majority Rule {{Plurality".

My brain isn't disciplined enough to deal with coming up with brackets 
and symbols and little squirrelly things just to get a subject line.  
Furthermore, with all of the RE:'s and other junk that is added by 
mailing software, all of our subject lines are going to be all symbols 
and no content.

I suspect that mailing software is going to get smarter over the next 
year or two, anyway, and that doing full text search on all of your saved 
messages won't be that big of a deal.  I really don't want to impose a 
burdensome system to deal with a problem that is likely to go away.
Please, let's not get bogged down with administrivia.

If we must have keywords, though, I suggest that we use the standard 
"Keywords" header that many newsgroups have used for years.

> We'll have to maintain a list of accepted keyphrases to name the
> Standards and the Methods, and maybe also the Arguments.  This
> should be easy to maintain.  We can rotate this secretarial duty
> among volunteers.  (Don't everyone stand up at once...  :-)

This is your baby.  I've got enough on my hands, thank you. :)

> Rob has written about hypermail.  Maybe he can suggest how we can 
> structure our messages to take advantage of it.

I don't know of any way to take advantage of keywords in Hypermail.

Rob Lanphier
robla at eskimo.com
http://www.eskimo.com/~robla