Re: Proposal: Communications policy

Marty Vance wrote:
> The Xaraya web site will be the primary communications medium for all
> community members.  The PMC will disseminate proposals, announcements,
> and other messages via the site's various features.  Community members
> are highly encouraged to do likewise.
>
> 2.  Mail Lists
>
> The various xaraya mail lists will be reduced in number, usage and
> preference over time.  The community is encouraged, from this point
> onward, to direct mail list traffic to corresponding areas of the web
> site instead.  

I don't know all the pros/cons but in the Django project they use a 
single Google group for all support.  It's a mail list on the one hand, 
but has a searchable forum-like web interface that no one in the Xaraya 
project would need to maintain.  I guess one con is that the data is not 
under the control of the project since it's hosted by Google.

Benefits of having one place for the majority of support/discussion, 
regardless of where that place is...
1) One place to search for answers to questions.
2) Will be easier for prospective users to gauge how large and active 
the community is.

Re: #2, I know that whenever I'm considering using a piece of software, 
one of the first things I do is check the support forum to see how often 
people are posting and the speed and quality of responses.

That said, I don't think that Xaraya's image is the top consideration... 
productivity and ease of use would probably be the top consideration.

I wouldn't miss the mail lists too much.  I don't see the importance of 
threading.

-Ryan