[Mailman-Users] How many is too many?

[Jon Carnes]

For an interactive list, it really depends on the subject and the number
of folks who actually post.  I've found that once a list grows close to
about a thousand that it's Signal to Noise ratio drops significantly and
you begin to loose a lot of folks who mainly contribute Signal (leaving
behind more Noise...).

If you are contemplating a large interactive list, I suggest that you
bring up a News Server and let folks read/contribute in that manner.
Mailman makes the transition from Mailing List to News List quite easy
as it provides a built-in gateway for  Mail to News (and vis-versa).

Good Luck - Jon Carnes

On Fri, 2002-12-27 at 02:03, The Berean wrote:
> Hello all,
> 
> I'm doing some research in an attempt to find the
> ceiling on how many users I can have on a Mailman
> powered listserv.  I understand the record so far is
> 147,000 users, but that listserv in question is an
> announce-only list.  The listserv I have in mind is an
> interactive listserv (listserv as a forum).  For those
> who run large listserv forums, how many would you
> figure could join such a list before the conversations
> starts becoming chaotic and the mails become far too
> excessive?  What could I expect in terms of bandwidth
> from a listserv forum of 20,000 people for example? 
> If you can point me to resources where I can do
> further research Id appreciate that as well.
> 
> I need to determine what limit I should set before
> closing the list to new subscriptions, and costs,
> affordability, especially on the bandwidth a large
> listserv forum will undoubtedly generate.
> 
> Appreciate any help!  Happy Holidays,
> 
> Berean
> 
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