[OpenIndiana-discuss] forum creation

[Jim Klimov]

On 26 January 2015 10:06:54 CET, Nikola M <minikola at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>On 01/25/15 10:55 PM, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
>> Reginald Beardsley via openindiana-discuss wrote:
>>> The archive provides a good interface for older discussions.  I'm 
>>> also of the opinion that part of the price of getting help from 
>>> others is providing it when the opportunity presents itself.
>> Or set up to auto-folder or auto-delete the emails during periods you
>
>> aren't following the list.
>>
>> The archives are not a good interface for older discussions - I use
>my 
>> email client on a dedicated folder to search the archives.
>>
>> Although I personally hate forums, I am also aware that use of email 
>> by those currently of university age has plummeted, with many not 
>> using it at all. If someone with an interest in forums came forward 
>> with a proposal that would bi-directionally mirror the mailing list 
>> discussion in a forum, that would open the discussions up to some 
>> younger people who won't follow a project via a mailing list.
>>
>> There is an IRC channel, #openindiana on chat.freenode.net
>I also very much hate forums, because they do not solve any problem,
>but 
>make problems worse.
>
>One of the problems is actually administering forums and frame of mind 
>of forums users, that is different with forum users and mailing list 
>users, where forum users perceive and imply less freedom and less 
>self-control when using them.
>On mailing lists, there are no "deleting" messages like on the forums 
>and no oversight over direct communication between list members. Forums
>
>have more fluctuation of new users and also administering against Spam 
>that could come to the list, not through mail servers, but through 
>direct Http(s) postings.
>
>Having mailing list spread to web interface too (that also includes 
>subscribing) could be Ok solution.
>I understand that younger people not accustomed to using nomal Mail 
>client application, would prefer to have Web interface to mailing list.
>Only I suggest that it is _imperative_ to have same users, same 
>accounts, same passwords and same mail addresses subscribed to the 
>mailing list, aether if it is in ordinary mailing list form in mail 
>client, or if it is displayed in the form of Web interface, it needs to
>
>stay same content. Separating "forum" and "mailing lists" woud be grave
>
>mistake. (Like it was on Opensolaris days)
>
>What is the existing software on server side, for displaying mailing 
>list to Web interface and allow subscribers to reply to the list via
>web 
>interface, that could be used?
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>openindiana-discuss mailing list
>openindiana-discuss at openindiana.org
>http://openindiana.org/mailman/listinfo/openindiana-discuss

> Separating "forum" and "mailing lists" woud be grave mistake. (Like it was on Opensolaris days)

Well, ideologically these were not separated - tyere was a bridge to post emails onto forums and forum posts into mailing lists, so threads could be discussed in both.

The implementation sucked however and more often failed than worked. But the intent was to provide both venues, and I should confess I came into many software-discussion communities via their web-forums, blog comments, etc.
Posting error traces (esp. from Live envs) is often more convenient via a browser than fetching and setting up a mail-client, too. Notifications of replies into email (at least) were a great bonus, since I don't want to keep hundreds of tabs open with all forums and threads of interest to me ;)

On a bonus side, when there is some interesting discussion of a problem I do too have, and somebody touched it a month or a year ago, subscribing to a list anew won't help me respond to that old thread with its context and my new questions on the matter. However replying to a forum post is open to anybody including newbies anytime, and it is a benefit IMHO.

So from me - +1 to a solution that would well integrate forums and email, both-ways and reliably.

Jim
--
Typos courtesy of K-9 Mail on my Samsung Android