Re: [NOVICE] jobs mailling list: pgsql-jobs@postgresql.org ? - Mailing list pgsql-advocacy

On Wed, Jul 02, 2003 at 05:51:09AM +0900, Frank Lee wrote:
> From: "Frank Lee" <franklee@netzero.net>
> To: <pgsql-advocacy@postgresql.org>
> Subject: Re: [pgsql-advocacy] [NOVICE] jobs mailling list: pgsql-jobs@postgresql.org ?
> Date: Wed, 2 Jul 2003 05:51:09 +0900
> X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106
>
> From: "Josh Berkus" <josh@agliodbs.com>
> > Even if it starts as an e-mail list, I would very much like to have a web
> form
> > for employers to submit jobs, rather than submitting a free-form e-mail.
>
> Having both available would be ideal. So far that I've seen, there hasn't
> been
> problems submitting free-form email on other mailling lists and it's been
> very
> effective for knowledgeable employers.
>
> > Having a web form would hopefully:
> > 1) decrease spamming for the list admin to deal with;
>
> Very good point. Since I brought/revived this topic, I'm willing to do the
> list admin work if that can be delegated to me.
>
> > 2) force potential employers to fill out several fields instead of just
> "We
> > need a PostgreSQL DBA."
>
> Though my emphasis is creating a jobs mailling list...
> If there's a jobs website, I'd suggest making it as employer friendly as
> possible considering employers have chosen PostgreSQL and do pay
> PostgreSQL salaries...
>

ok guys, I think I can help in this area.

I have been working very hard on something I call "project eros"-- it's pg
based (with php too), and it is specifically set up to allow this sort of
custom application. it is licensed under LGPL.

what I propose is this:

we set up a mailing list, which anyone can join. I like mailman the most,
but majordomo is fine since that is already in production. if you want to,
you can lock down the config to only allow posting from members of the
list.. obviously the below mentioned 'bot' would have to be subscribed. you
can then set up moderation so that if someone posts directly to the list (eg
not knowing about our nice application to facilitate it), we can assign a
moderator to handle that on a case-by-case basis: forward it to the list,
forward a url for the application to the poster, etc.

we set up an application with the aforementioned form (there is another post
in this thread with suggestions). I will use code in project eros to provide
this form, and the database to contain it all.

the application will then be able to post apporpriately formatted job
listings to the mailing list for all to see (and archive how they see fit,
and majordomo can provide an additional, searchable, archive of all
postings).

we can make the system flexible enough to allow deferred posting to the
mailing list or "bulk" entries to avoid spamming the list for *every* job.

once we control the format of the email (at least from the bot), you can
make a nice summary for each listing, grouped by the organization with the
need, making it easy to find. I'm thinking that a url to an appopriate
homepage and/or internal job posting page (if the employer does their own)
would be appropriate. if all we do is have a place in the database for a url
or two, the person doing the data entry can put whatever they want in there
or leave it blank. the bot that does the posting to the mailing list can be
set up to not show blank fields, so the end-users will only see relevant
details, not a bunch of blank lines, which IMHO is a good thing.

eros can do a lot, you see.. :)

I saw mention of picking an "official" language, and I have a suggestion for
that, too: obviously english is one choice, but why not make the system
flexible enough that you can enter your postings in any language, as long as
you indicate (via drop down box) what the language is? as long as the end
users can specify what languages they know, it will be fine. obviously for
the mailing list we will have to pick english to reach the widest possible
audience, but maybe the bot can be set up to list "non-english" posts
seperately, via a url direct to a specific job posting, so that the
information will still go out, but it won't intrude upon people that will
not be able to comprehend the posting.

fair? :)

so, what we need is:

- bot
- web application
- database setup complete with tables, etc. don't forget to design in RI and
  take appropriate advantage of every pg feature you can.
- moderator for the list (someone has already volunteered for this position)

and that is about it.

I can do some work on the bot, but I will insist upon using python for it.
if that causes political issues (hopefully it won't), we need to discuss
another alternative. I don't know perl, for example, so I might be out of
the picture for this particular piece.

I will be happy to work on the use of eros (since it is my code), and I can
have a demo working in less than 24 hours which can then be refined as much
as we want.. but that can be decided as a group.

I can work on the schema and stuff, but I am a little new to using RI and
such, and I would expect there are people with a *LOT* more experience than
me in this regard, and I welcome the help. I don't want to make any silly
mistakes for something as critical as this.

regards,
J
--
|| Jeff - http://zoidtechnologies.com/
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