PRO-AUDIO Mailing List A Professionally Oriented Audio Discussion Group In The Spirit of Plato's "Republic" Q: What is PRO-AUDIO? A: PRO-AUDIO is a professional discussion group dedicated to the discussion of issues endemic to the world of audio engineering. It is meant to provide an alternative to rec.audio.pro for those who seek a more intellectual, engineering-oriented list for the discussion of technical issues, audio philosophy, and other allied arts. Q: Why is PRO-AUDIO a mailing list and not a USENET newsgroup? A: USENET is, frankly, too noisy. The spirit of PRO-AUDIO used to be embodied on the newsgroup rec.audio.pro when it was created several years ago. Back then it was a group for professionals, and conscientious non-professionals, to discuss technical issues in audio, and for students of audio to raise legitimate and well thought out questions that would spark intriguing discussions among audio professionals. But today, with every twelve-year-old with a modem and a Tascam Portastudio on the net (and many adults acting like 12-year-olds), the pro audio groups have been swamped by issues that are, frankly, of no interest or concern to the pro audio engineer, and as a result, most professionals have fled the newsgroups. PRO-AUDIO is a venue to give those professionals, and those who truly wish to learn from them, a private forum. Q: Who is welcome on PRO-AUDIO? A: Anyone is welcome to read PRO-AUDIO, but posting on the mailing list is restricted to audio professionals, students, and conscientious non-professionals. Recognized audio professionals will be placed on a special list that will permit them to post freely on PRO-AUDIO. Those not on this invited list are welcome to submit postings to PRO-AUDIO which may be posted at the list operator's discretion. The operators of PRO-AUDIO (a committee chosen by the staff of PGM, the late Gabe Wiener's company) reserve the right to decide, in their sole judgment, who gets to post and who doesn't. PRO-AUDIO is not a democracy. Q: What's all this about Plato's Republic? A: Plato asserted in his monumental work "Republic" that democracy was the worst possible form of government, because the populace did not have enough specialized knowledge to make judgments. The best governance, according to Plato, comes from those who have specific knowledge of the field of governing. An analog of this is why we go to doctors. When one is ill, one does not take an opinion poll on what the best treatment should be. One instead goes to someone with specialized knowledge...a doctor. When one is lost at sea, a vote among the sailors as to which direction to go is hardly the most appealing option. Far wiser is to ask someone trained in the art of direction-finding....that is, a navigator. In the case of governance, the person skilled in the art of running a state was called a Philosopher-King...that is, someone who was vested with absolute power, but someone who also knew to use it wisely....to do what is _right_. [I recommend the Allan Bloom translation of "Republic" for those who want fuller details on this paradigm, known as "The Ship of State." - Gabe] PRO-AUDIO operates on the same principle. Plato predicted that democratic governments eventually descend into chaos. The newsgroups of USENET have succumbed to this phenomenon. Once an idyllic intellectual forum governed by courtesy and thoughtfulness, today's USENET is nothing if not chaotic. While PRO-AUDIO is open to anyone who behaves themselves, it is certainly not a democracy. Anyone who behaves in an obnoxious, rude, or inappropriate manner (as determined solely by the list's operators) will be extirpated. Q: But isn't that censorship? A: Yes. But this is my private machine and I can do whatever I want on it. A magazine can refuse to print your article. A bookstore can refuse to sell your book. Those who don't like my policy of moderation can feel free to post to the newsgroups and be assured that they (and everybody else and his brother) will have all the free speech they care for. As A.J. Liebling once wrote, "Freedom of the press is largely reserved for those who own one." This is my press, and I decide who gets to use it. The reputation of the operators of PRO-AUDIO is well established in the professional audio community, and these guidelines are here to keep PRO-AUDIO a pleasant place for professionals to discuss audio. We have no desire to have our mailing list flooded with for-sale messages or with outlandish and patently absurd techno-babble spewed by people who couldn't engineer their way out of a paper bag. Behavior on PRO-AUDIO is nothing but common sense. Q: What kind of postings are prohibited? A: The following are examples of inappropriate messages. - For Sale and Wanted-To-Buy messages, EXCEPT when the item being bought or sold is of particular significant interest to audio professionals. In other words, if you're selling your old U-87 or a used DA-88, forget it. - Argumentative and nonconstructive discussions that attempt for instance to assert that analog or digital audio is "better" than the other, or that simply agree with a previous post without adding significantly to the discussion. - Articles of the "What's the best microphone for under $100?" variety. Most of us don't know about mics in that price range. Q: How do I subscribe to PRO-AUDIO? A: Again, anyone is welcome to read PRO-AUDIO. To subscribe to the mailing list version, send a message to: pro-audio-request@pgm.com with the solitary body line of "subscribe" (no quotes). If you prefer to receive the mailing list in digest form (a digest is sent whenever the posts received since the last digest reaches about 40k bytes), send your "subscribe" to pro-audio-digest-request@pgm.com To unsubscribe, use the same address (send to both of them, if you're not sure whether you are subscribed to the regular or digest version) with the single line message "unsubscribe". Q: How do I post to PRO-AUDIO? A: Send mail to pro-audio@pgm.com and the system will instantly recognize you and pass your message to the list moderators about as fast as you can send it. Readers whose contributions to the list are of consistently high quality will be added to the invited posters list and will be permitted to pass their messages through to the list without the need for moderation. If you have administrative requests, send to: listmod@pgm.com Q: How do I retrieve copies of posts that have appeared on PRO-AUDIO? A: All PRO-AUDIO posts are archived and will be sent to you by e-mail upon request to the list server. They're available in two formats: a monthly archive and a digest archive. If you send an e-mail message to majordomo@pgm.com with the lines index pro-audio index pro-audio-digest end you'll get a complete list of the archive files available for download (files pro-audio sends a list of the monthly archives, files pro-audio-digest sends a list of the digests). Then, send another message to majordomo@pgm.com with the line get [listname] [filename] where [listname] is either pro-audio or pro-audio-digest, and [filename] is the complete file name as shown in the list you received. You can combine as many get commands as you like in one mail message; the files will be e-mailed to you. Q: What may I do and not do with the postings and archives of Pro-Audio? A: The entire contents of Pro-Audio are copyright by the estate of Gabe Wiener and by the original individual posters, and may not be copied, sold or used in any commercial or restricted manner. Individual subscribers are granted a nonexclusive, nonassignable right to copy the contents for their own use but such use may not include providing the contents to any other party. Interested parties are invited to refer to the subscription and archive features of Pro-Audio where all content posted since 1995 is available, but such linking may not include the production of compilations, archives, indexes or similar works.