[kwlug-disc] Should kwlug-disc archives be private?

[Andrew Kohlsmith (mailing lists account)]

> On Dec 6, 2018, at 12:37 AM, Andrew Sullivan Cant <acant at alumni.uwaterloo.ca> wrote:
> Again, I realize that this would not be perfect, but would probably
> reduce the likelihood of mailing list messages popping up in searches.
> And it is simpler than having to authenticate who is on the mailing list
> and who is not.

Caution: this is from pre-coffee Andrew; it’s perhaps written more sharply than post-coffee Andrew, but the opinions expressed are correct.

This seems counter to the idea of public discourse. Personally I *want* mailing list results to show up in web searches. 

If you don’t want your email identified, there are (low effort) things that can be done to help that.

If you don’t want your name showing up, use a pseudonym.

if you don’t want your *text* showing up: don’t post. Keep your information to yourself. I think it’s awfully selfish to post on a list such as this and then hold it close to your chest because someone outside of your network might see it. That’s not what this list is about, in my opinion. We’re here to ask questions, share knowledge and exchange pithy one-liners. Whether the person reading it is in Guelph or Guangzhou is irrelevant; they may have the same question and a simple answer may be found here. Why would you want to prevent that?

This thread seems to be getting less about privacy and more about knowledge-hoarding or what I’m going to call citadel-ism: keeping knowledge away from those who you feel are “other” or “unworthy". This list was always about public discourse. If you want an elite “members only” list, feel free to create one, but don’t take the years of open exchange from this one and make it hidden in the name of “privacy”.

Of course, all this ‘you’ is not to you personally, Andrew, nor to anyone in this thread.

-A.