Brian Hechinger <wonko at 4amlunch.net> writes: On Dec 18, 2012, at 2:34, Mark Benson <md.benson at gmail.com> wrote: I have already tried to promote an alternative forum for the more wide ranging topics by starting the DECtec mailing list which is a wider overarching enthusiast list for DEC/Compaq/HP users. In spite of many people from this list also being also subscribed to DECtec it doesn't seem to have worked all that well. The list is mostly silent. WRT DECtek, aren't you re-inventing the wheel? There already exists such a list (Info-VAX) and it's gatewayed to the usenet comp.os.vms groupt. I think that if it's more overarching info you're looking for that you might want to look there -- at least, for VMS related topics. There are several DECcentric usenet groups which cover DEC hardware and PDP focus as well -- I'm not aware of mailing list gateways in the latter case. I think the problem is that people don't intentionally post off topic here. It always seems to start out as HECnet/DECnet related and then and some point wanders off the trail following a squirrel. It's the nature of the beast. It starts out in a clearing and then goes to wander off into the weeds. -- VAXman- A Bored Certified VMS Kernel Mode Hacker VAXman(at)TMESIS(dot)ORG Well I speak to machines with the voice of humanity.