Re: The first dedicated PostgreSQL forum - Mailing list pgsql-general

On 17 November 2010 14:09, Tony Caduto <tony_caduto@amsoftwaredesign.com> wrote:
> On 11/15/2010 5:53 PM, Lee Hachadoorian wrote:
>>
>> If anyone's interested, I've started accessing the postgres list through
>> gmane.org (along with several other mailing lists I subscribe to). It's
>> gives you the choice of reading the list as a threaded archive, a blog,
>> or through an NNTP newsreader or an RSS feed. Everyone chooses their
>> preferred interface, the community is not fractured by interface
>> preference.
>>
>
> Honestly those options suck.
> The mailing lists etc are fine, but they are kind of old school, people
> coming from other databases
> expect a web based forum plain and simple.  To attract more users the forums
> are a GREAT idea.
>
> Stop this ridiculous complaining about interface fracture etc .
>
> I can tell you for SURE that many people who are not OLD SCHOOL hate mailing
> lists,  A web based forum
> gives everyday users more of a chance of interacting with the community.
>
> It would be a good idea to stop the bickering and just implement the forums.
>
> Sorry if people don't like my honest answer :-)

It's not honesty people would have a problem with, it's the "shut up
and just do it without thinking" attitude which we're not used to.  We
tend not to make impulsive decisions on here.  I think debate from
several perspectives is the only way to get a good picture of the pros
and cons or proposals, and to get constructive feedback.

As has been said previously, an unlinked forum (one which has no
interaction with the mailing list) is destined to fail, as others have
in the past.  It's creates a fragmented community and poor support on
such a forum would reflect badly on the PostgreSQL community.

Mailing lists aren't "old school".  They've just got a long history,
and I think you'll find most open source projects probably have a
mailing list (or several) associated with them.  But the reason why a
forum hasn't been rejected out of hand is that we recognise that there
is a demographic which probably see a mailing list as a barrier, hence
our discussion about integrating a bidirection sync between a forum
and a mailing list.  And the reason why we like that idea is that it
ensures that people who would only join a forum benefit from the huge
pool of knowledge and experience of users on the mailing list.

--
Thom Brown
Twitter: @darkixion
IRC (freenode): dark_ixion
Registered Linux user: #516935