3000 lifeline list gets a makeover
October 11, 2005
It's hard to describe how essential the 3000-L newsgroup/mailing list is to the 3000 community. Or to the NewsWire, for that matter. When we began our news service 10 years ago, I was encouraged to believe we could produce a newsletter every month — heartened by the intelligent traffic in 3000 knowledge flying along on the 3000-L, even back then when the Internet was still brand-new to most of us.
A decade later, this Web resource remains a top-flight font of system tips, community gossip and outlandish arguments. (And for almost all of that decade we have tracked the list's 3000 tips and the news in our net.digest columns, written mostly by John Burke with some off-the-bench help from me.)
Those debates on the list, the Off-Topic OT: postings, are a bane to some 3000 users who look at this resource and an entertaining delight to others. In the last few years the list has lost subscribers (who take the messages via e-mail, like we have done for 10 years at the NewsWire) because of the debating over such high-spirited OT posts. But the newsgroup is a user group, as far as HP and more than 1,000 customers and developers are concerned. Not long ago "the L" got a makeover for its Web counterpart — an interface that lets you keep up with the traffic without loading up your already-bulging in-boxes.
If your time is limited, and you don't need any every 3000 tip show up in its own e-mail message, the new Web interface is a good way to get a taste for what 3000-L offers. The "L" in the newsgroup's name stands for Listserv, the open source software that drives so many Internet newsgroups. Having a quick look at the latest version (opens in new window):
http://raven.utc.edu/archives/hp3000-l.html
shows off the top level of organization, by week of the month. Clicking on any week's link brings up a list of topics for a 7-day period; the L's weeks start on Saturdays. The messages are sorted by subject name, with all relevant messages threaded together. The Web site has been improved with a Subscriber's Corner to let e-mail-style readers adjust their subscription options more easily, too. New software includes the ability to set themes (like large type, or colors).
The 3000-L Web site is a place to research, too, with lookups across 10 years of traffic on the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Linux server where the data is hosted. The 32 instances of the product AMXW mentioned since March 2003 popped up in seconds. (Google's Groups search does this as well, but not as focused as at the new Listserve 14.4 interface.)
The L is also mirrored onto an Internet newsgroup, comp.sys.hp.mpe, or Google would know little about it. The newsgroup interface is favored by those in HP's labs, it's said. But it's interesting to note where a 3000-L message can end up for action or a solution. HP's business development manager for the e3000, Dave Wilde, has selected 3000-L traffic sent to his PDA, when spotted by others in the HP team.
The list is still a good place to be heard and listen up, whether you're going or staying on the 3000. Reports have included advice on what's working to convert JCL to Unix scripts, as well as this most recent riposte about N-Class hardware availability for homesteaders, under the heading <plug> eN4000 "Unlicensed" Servers:
Vendor: I have in stock the following servers that would not be eligible for HP hardware or operating system support:
eN4000 220 1-Way
eN4000 330 1-Way
eN4000 440 2-WayCustomer: Don't worry about it. In 447 days, no one's server will be eligible for
HP hardware or operating system support.