Re: [linux-audio-user] move LAU to a forum?

On Sunday 24 December 2006 05:26, Leonard Ritter wrote:
> and indeed, why not move to a forum? are there arguments
> against it?

My arguments against it are principally

(1) archiving (there are as many archives of the current list as
there are users who don't delete their mail regularly)

(2) search (no web forum software's search is as full-featured as
a mail client's search, in fact they're usually very pathetic,
with restrictions like not searching for any word less than 4
letters long or not being able to search for phrases, and Google
doesn't index web fora as aggressively as it does blogs)

and

(3) the "push" advantage (people are more likely to contribute to
a list where they're constantly getting mail and see something
that piques their interest, than something they have to visit
regularly to keep up with new topics)

Someday, someone will come out with a mail connector to phpBB or
one of the others that is actually worth something, but in the
meantime web forums are a great way to attract newbies at the
expense of deeper usability.

Many communities have a web forum for the people out surfing the
web looking for answers, and then a separate mailing list for
people who actually care enough to sign up for something. I
guess I like that approach best. But if the list were actually
threatened with being shut down, I'd try to find a way to
provide hosting for it in its current form. I don't have much
time right now for making music or non-work coding, but getting
LAU in my inbox lets me feel connected at least.

Rob
Received on Tue Dec 26 20:15:01 2006