.Date: Sat, 04 Jan 2003 08:26:58 -0500
To: SL-IRC General Mail
Subject: FOUR HUNDRED -- AND THANK YOU ONE AND ALL
To All
StarLink-IRC reached FOUR HUNDRED online connections for the very first time last night! At 11:44 PM Jan 3, 2003 on the Rochester* server, DDPS of #Cops was the 400th simultaneous connection.
Six years ago, we started with about 200 peak users when the net was founded. That may seem slow, espectially to those used to nets of hundreds of thousands of users.
However, our policy is and always has been to make the net a clean, safe, and friendly place to chat. Our goal has been to Run the net, So what you see, Is what you get , On StarLink-IRC. (I should write that down somewhere). Our channel lists arent inflated .. if a channel is abandoned, it is deleted. We have no bots holding channels open to inflate the channel counts either. It's an honest net. We deliver what we promise, and we try our very best to make sure we are delivering what people want in a family friendly chat network.
StarLink-IRC was founded on one concept: A cybertown, where the net is the village and the channels are the "homes" The SL-IRC staff are simply the groundskeepers, road crews, and tourist bureau for our little cybertown. It is the residents .. our users.. and visitors that make it the pleasant place to chat that it has become over the years. We can just dust the neighborhood.. it is all of you who make it a place worth visiting.
Based on channel listings over the years, some have asked "are we a kids network?", or "are we a religious network?", or even "are we a sim(ulator) network?" Those who have been here for a while know the answer .. we are not well defined. We're just a home for folks who want to meet and exchange ideas and have fun. We do like to think that SL-IRC is one of the safest "standard" irc chat networks for kids on the internet. Some nets may be a bit safer with locked or proprietary servers and software.. and a LOT make a lot of noise about 'family safe' chat .. (most of which is obviously untrue as evidenced by a quick channel listing) But SL-IRC is a net for everyone .. no special software is needed .. anyone can connect. (and some nights, boy, aint that the truth.. but i digress...)
Others have asked "why are there so few users here?" (My own pet theory is that there are only a few hundred nice people on the entire internet...) But again, those of you who have been here a while know the answer to that as well. We insist only that folks be non-abusive and respect the rights of others. It would seem that simple condition is quite a filter for most who would abuse the privilege of a chat network. On the other hand, it does tend to make the neighborhood a bit nicer, doesn't it ?
On behalf of the entire StarLink-IRC staff, thank you one and all for making our unique little network a great place to be!
Thank you all very much. (And pass the word to those not on the mail list too.)
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Itsy
<for> StarLink-IRC Staff
.