Re: User related mailing list

Mathias Bauer wrote:
> Am 24.08.2011 22:47, schrieb NoOp:
>
>> Hmmm... OK. It was 'tongue-in-cheek' Drew. I'll not even comment on the
>> Sun->Oracle lists transition :-) But I will add this; if OOoA goes to
>> forums only, then I'll not be participating.
>
> I think we all should try to become more open for new development. It is
> clear that mailing lists are easier to handle for the "regulars", the
> most active participants. But OTOH a huge number of users looking for
> help (if not the vast majority) aren't experienced mail users.
>
> The results are known:
>
> - posts without subjects
> - destroyed threads
> - frequent mails with "why do I get all these mails, please help me out
> of here" (and that's just the polite version ;-))
> - quoting disasters
>
> etc.
>
> So many of the benefits of a mailing list are partially destroyed.
> OTOH most users are used to web fora - and they know how to use them.
>
> For many years my answer to the question "mailing list or web forum for
> user support" would have been the same as yours - but times have changed
> and so I tried to find out why I prefer mailing lists over web fora.
> Remember, we are not talking about technical discussions or developer
> talks, it's about supporting users that usually just want to drop a
> question and not "join a community". Or maybe, they might consider
> joining later, when they received a lot of help and started to like the
> forum.
>
> At the end there are only two things that really upset me:
>
> - without threads longer discussions are a mess
> - especially for power supporters it is important to track the status
> of posts reliably ("read" status or other markers like "important" etc.).
>
> There are already many fora that support threading, and as the
> maintenance of the thread no longer depends on the capabilities of the
> mail clients and their users, they might even do it better than the
> average support mailing list (IMHO users@ooo is a mess in that regard).
>
> So for me the second point (tracking of status) would be crucial: if the
> web forum was able to support me *reliably* in that regard, I could come
> to terms with it.
>
> It would be even better if there was a forum software that interacts
> with a mailing list in a bidirectional way: best of both worlds.
>
> Please, try to think about your statement again: is it really impossible
> to cope with web fora? It would be a pity to lose your valuable
> contributions in case the discussion arrived at the decision to prefer
> web fora for support.

I realize you are referring to No-Op's post but think of this, and it 
has been brought up in several different mailing list.  Not everyone has 
high speed interent access.  There are areas here in the USA that are 
lucky to have dial-up access, so forget broadband.  To many people, from 
web designers to developers think that broadband access is total and 
covers everyone, it does not.  At this time I live where I have 
broadband access, next week I may not.  I remember dial-up and it is a 
pain when a web page is so loaded with graphics that you can get it to load.

Andy

> BTW, mailing lists also are limited in the way how you can work with
> them - you can't offer new features as this would require to update all
> the mail clients. In web fora everything is under control of the admin.
>
> Adding better search options (better than "download the archive and
> search for it") or rating techniques could avoid a lot of questions that
> have been answered already - wouldn't that be an improvement? We won't
> be able to add any new features supporting users to a mailing list - web
> fora can do a lot more and there are numerous examples for it.
>
> As a developer I like "stackoverflow.com" where posts and replies can be
> voted and posters get credits in return (simply put). Both means can
> help users to get through the jungle of posts and find the best answer
> just by searching, not by asking. And posts can be tagged, so you can
> search for them much better and faster than just scanning subjects.
>
> Again, we should try to become more open for new development and
> evaluate it without preconceived opinions.
>
> Regards,
> Mathias

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