EvangeList closes down

Otter writes " The EvangeList mailing list, the rallying point of the MacOS community during Apple's darkest years, has come to an end. Guy Kawasaki writes, "In the past two years Apple has experienced a stunning turnaround. This is due to many things including the steadfast loyalty of Apple's customers--and EvangeListas are the most steadfast of the steadfast. The original purpose of EvangeList was to counteract the negative news about Apple and Macintosh, and I believe that EvangeList has served its purpose--fantastically, as a matter of fact. So after discussing what we should do with EvangeList with the folks at Apple, we've decided to retire the list." As Apple has come off the critical list, EvangeList has pretty much petered out. Looks like Team Slashdot will be moving up in the distributed.net rankings. " Man, what's a guy to do? (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

Comments

I don't know what I missed...

[Sleepy]

I've owned personal computers since 1983 (Atari 8-bit, Atari 16/32, i486 upgraded 3x, then platform switched to Motorola StarMax Mac clone, a P120 for Win95 and Linux, then last month got a shiny BW G3). I've never subscribed to Evangelista so I don't know what I missed.

There WAS a perception out there that these were "fanatical Amiga types" (no dis to Amiga fans), and that's why I probably avoided it. It was enough for me when I saw misinformation online that was SO inaccurate about Apple, that you have to wonder how this person finished school. You know, the stereotypes, the fud, occasional lies. Microsoft did not invent FUD for Linux... if you read the Hallow's Eve document they've implied their past FUD successes without specifically mentioning Apple.

I also stayed away from most Mac-based journals and mailing lists because I've been using computers so long I don't want to hear someone ask how to setup Eudora or import Mickeysoft Word documents. On average, the Mac does MOST of the things I want done better than any OS, although I could draw up a long list of annoyances for any OS (though none would be as long as the M$ list). Apple stressed simplicity to the point of not being able to customize the UI. I don't like that, and I'm glad that philosophy was let go starting with System 8.

I'm kind of sad to learn this list is shutting down, I missed out things I didn't know about like jokes, technical information, job postings and so on. It's too bad I'm learning the list was portrayed and demonized as something it was not. The lesson really is don't judge a group by its members... closer to home we see Slashdot also has a fair share of idiots, trolls, fanatics... sometimes they are who they appear to be (the world isn't perfect), and sometimes they are "the enemy" dressed up like us (like Microsoft seeding online bulletin boards and letter campaigns).

The most important lesson in life is, "Relax, and have a homebrew".

It's much easier now to ignore the trolls without needing to defend Apple... the more these people cling to their stereotypes lies and FUD, whatever it is about, the more they will be marginalized or portrayed as fanatics. (Of course it helps that we are all WINNING for the moment).

Like the idiot at c|net who wrote about the death of MP3... someone said he has worked for Microsoft and besides the MS push for MP3 FUD he also wrote some inaccurate trash about Linux.

A moment of Silence

[Tuor]

Everyone, please take off your hats and have a moment of silence for the EvangeList. Not only did they support the Mac in it's time of need, but they taught all of us how to advocate our platform. Guy was always about doing it the "right way." No flames. No attacks. Just simple, polite letters.

It was an institution I'm proud to say I was a suscriber to. I look forward to many years of Linux et al based on the push to be different that came from the Mac community. The List was great support for all of the beligered Mac users.

I understand that it came to a natural demise too. I have been reading less and less of the mailings, and the last few months have piled up unred for the most part for me. I think that's something most of the list community has felt. Now that Apple isn't the butt of everyone's jokes and jabs, it really isn't needed so.

Now if only we could get Wozniak back... WOW! that would be great.

The Mac is Dead! Long live the Mac!
The List is Dead. Long live its spirit.

It's hilarious

[remymartin]

how many slashdot users like to play angel and bash the evangelist. The evangelist probably could have done a good job toning down some of the slashdot threads if they were told to hang out on these boards at all. However, I have done the "Linux users superiority complex" schpiel and will save you that nonsense.


Evangelist wasn't *that* bad. It is really interesting to note the psychological influences throughout the computer world. The evangelists were the "black panthers". The hard-core guys willing to do anything for "the good fight". Classical majority/majority conflicts exist.


It's all pretty simple. People should just chill out more and not let things get so personal. They are, after all, computers.


regards,

remy

http://www.mklinux.org

Where will I get my links?

[redbird]

This is no fun! I've been an Evangelista for the past few years now, and I don't know what I'm gonna do for links and software updates. Sure I get other Mac-oriented mailing list, but none of them are quite as much fun as Evangelist. Now I guess I'll have to actually *visit* Mac Web sites.

To relate, things just aren't going my way lately. Just earlier this month Emu World News closed shop, and now this. I don't know what I'm gonna do if Slashdot (my last, favorite Web site that is still updated) goes away, too. I'll be hacking my Mac without anywhere to take a break at!