It's customary for new subscribers to a mailing list to
immediately get several introductory posts: how to suspend
while on vacation, how to unsubscribe, list etiquette, etc.
The User Survey email fits comfortably within that tradition
and is very well designed IMHO.

BUT, given the growing volume of email posts to the Ruby
email list, I think a division of labor between the list and
and the newsgroup comp.lang.ruby will soon become a
necessity. At that point, I would suggest that the
*newsgroup* orient toward those mostly interested in
mastering current Ruby and using it to accomplish day-to-day
tasks (the "users"). The *mailing list* would orient itself
toward those interested in enhancing Ruby, its libraries,
and extensions (the "developers" of Ruby).

Richard Schulman