> Did you use dialup BBSes?
> Did you stay online while you were reading messages and answering them or
> did you use an offline reader?

BBS offline readers allow users to post back into the message groups they're reading. They also maintain whatever threading is in operation (individual messageboards at least). The BBS email interface can't do this.

> It's too bad that I can't feed the messages posted on the mailing list back
> to the BBS because as the list membership grows, we'll have more posts to
> the lists that the BBS users will never see.

I'm concerned that the mailing list forwarder effectively splits the BBS because it can't insert replies back into the threads. I understood the email interface to be a facility for lurkers, or those who wished to conveniently monitor posts before logging in to respond to any topics of interest. My personal opinion is that if the mailing list service is to draw posts from the BBS then replying to the list should not be allowed. It may not be at all clear to those on the list that their comments are not being contributed to the BBS (or maybe they won't care - but it seems very selfish to me, taking content but giving nothing back).

There is already an independent mailing list that people can post to, and if it's not popular because it's on a commercial server then let me know and I'll set one up at empeg.com.

I find this threaded html BBS extremely convenient, and I'll be dissapointed if it eventually dies because posters migrate to the non-contributory email interface.

Rob