Newsgroup - another try?

As nobody seems to answer my request, I simply post it again.
Is there any reason why the r-help-mailinglist should not be converted to a
newsgroup?

I can think of two disadvantages of a newsgroup

1) Access
Everyone with an email address can sub_scribe to the R mailing lists.
However, not everyone has a news feed. I don't.

2) Control
Moving to a news group means giving up control over the list.
For example, Martin Maechler has put excellent spam filters in place
and we certainly wouldn't have those any more.

In terms of the other points you raise, the R mailing lists do
have archives at
http://www.ens.gu.edu.au/robertk/R/about.htm
and you can search these with an advanced google search.

Many e-mail clients can order messages by thread and, more importantly,
filter them. This is not really a news-group/mailing list difference.

Martyn

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