[opensourcepharma] Two Reminders about This List. A Question about Revealing Membership

[Peter Murray-Rust]

On Wed, Aug 13, 2014 at 4:52 AM, Matthew Todd <mattoddchem at gmail.com> wrote:

> All,
>
> I hope the opensourcepharma list is proving useful.
>

I think it's wonderful! [FWIW I am on the Advisory Board of the OKFN and
developed computational chemistry in Glaxo som time ago.]

I am really impressed with the contributions so far and there is a real
chance they may lead to something. It's similar to Polymath in Maths (Tim
Gowers' http://polymathprojects.org/ a blog/list community who solved a key
problem in maths.)


> Two important reminders:
>
> 1) Recipients are:
> -Attendees of the Bellagio meeting
> -Attendees of the WHO/TDR meeting last year on "Is Open Source Drug
> Discovery Practical?"
> -A handful of other people who have since joined, but
> *-Anyone may join*. I am not actively moderating this, but can.
>

Suggest you keep it this way. In practice most modern lists can run without
moderation. There are occasional trolls (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_%28Internet%29)  and you simply ignore
them.  The value of having immediate replies, and archived discussion is
enormous.


> An aim of this list is to help grow a significant community.
>

Yes. Many Internet efforts have started this way. If there is a need for
other tools then OK/FN has many. These include:

* wiki
* blogs
* Etherpads
* hackdays

If there is a lot of information it may be worth using wikis or blogs as
mail lists are not good for structure

>
> 2) The emails are *publicly archived* and may be found through search
> engines. Do not send anything to the list not intended for public
> consumption!
>
> +1


> An aim here is to "walk the walk" by adopting an open style of discourse.
>
> Question:
>
> Would everyone be OK with me periodically *sending round (to the list, so
> also public) the names and email addresses of the members*? A few people
> have requested this recently. Unless I hear objections (write to me
> individually, off-list, and no need to write if you're happy), I'll do this
> in one week's time. I'm pretty sure that the name <-> email address
> pairings are all already public domain information elsewhere on the web.
>
>
I am, but it's easy for me. The main problems are:
* spam
* being publicly associated with an employer who may not share your views.
It's probably worth including disclaimers.


>
>
>

-- 
Peter Murray-Rust
Reader in Molecular Informatics
Unilever Centre, Dep. Of Chemistry
University of Cambridge
CB2 1EW, UK
+44-1223-763069
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