No subject

* 1:  People want to still be able to use a mailing list as if it were
a mailing list. They like it that way.
* 2: They don't want to fragment the community into Forums and Mailing
List.
* 3: They see the risks of one member hosting the posts (If they go
down we are in a bad situation).
Pros:
* 1: A forum offers a user friendly front-end, great for new users
getting started with ubuntu.
* 2: A forum can seem significantly less intimidating.
* 3: Some people hate mailing lists...

So lets think how we can best achieve compatibility with the current
system while allowing an interface so that a forum like structure can
be achieved. How we did have some interesting suggestions. First off
one person mentioned that we have https://groups.google.com/group/ubuntu-au=
/
however for the purpose of this discussion we will say it is almost
too simplistic. Another person mentioned FUDforum.

Personally I believe a system where we retain our room on the
lists.ubuntu and retained our compatibility with our current model
while providing an interface or multiple interfaces to a forum like
structure would be the "sane" approach to things. Agreed?

Now we have some clearly marked boundaries lets look into what hosted
applications can achieve this.Someone mentioned FUD forums. If this
does meet out expectations and parameters I suggest we run some tests
and see how it goes all the while maintaining the community exactly as
it is, thus having no compatibility issues, no issues of hosting
posts, no issues of people who don't like forums. All can be achieved
succinctly. So maybe now we should turn our focus to Bronze and
suggest software applications that fit such a proposal.



On Oct 19, 7:49=A0pm, Dave Hall <dave.h... at skwashd.com> wrote:
> I am going to top post as I don't think there is much point in going
> through your response point by point.
>
> For the record I don't really care if this happens or not, I won't use
> it. =A0At the same time I want to put some effort into making sure if it
> does go ahead it is done in a way which is useful for the community,
> doesn't fragment things and minimises the effort involved in supporting
> it.
>
> Lets review what is being proposed.
>
> Brad? (Bronze?) has offered to setup and host a forum.
>
> The forum will interface with the mailing list/s - I would suggest this
> list, ubuntu users, kubuntu users and maybe one or 2 other _user_ lists.
> Developer lists should not be added to the forum.
>
> Anything from the lists ends up on the forum and vise versa. =A0It is jus=
t
> like gmane or google groups - except that FUDForum or some other FOSS
> platform will be used, so it is actually better than the 2 proprietary
> web applications you have proposed. =A0I have never suggested using
> vBulletin - or any other proprietary platform.
>
> We keep all the benefits of the current setup _and_ we _add_ another
> interface to the lists, which lowers the barrier to entry for people who
> are new the free software world.
>
> Given the above I am at a loss as to why you are so hostile to this
> proposal. =A0I have used this type of setup in the past and found it be
> the most successful way to run a "forum". =A0No one is suggesting you hav=
e
> to change any thing or do any thing differently to how you do it now.
>
> I would suggest Brad and anyone else who wants to set this thing up
> should do it and we can see how it goes. =A0If it doesn't work out, so be
> it, it isn't like it is days of work involved in setting it up.
>
> Cheers
>
> Dave
>
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, 2009-10-19 at 17:33 +1100, Sridhar Dhanapalan wrote:
> > 2009/10/19 Dave Hall <dave.h... at skwashd.com>:
> > > On Sun, 2009-10-18 at 19:29 +1100, Sridhar Dhanapalan wrote:
> > >> 2009/10/18 Dave Hall <dave.h... at skwashd.com>:
> > >> > On Sun, 2009-10-18 at 17:35 +1100, Sridhar Dhanapalan wrote:
>
> > >> > That is why I proposed the compromise plan - use a forum with a ma=
il
> > >> > interface and link it to the relevant lists. =A0It would also allo=
w us to
> > >> > make more lists available to Australia ubuntu users. =A0FUDForum i=
s
> > >> > capable of doing this.
>
> > >> But we already have a compromise plan: a list with multiple forum in=
terfaces.
>
> > >> That gives us:
> > >> =A0 * an e-mail list, professionally and reliably administered by
> > >> Canonical (lists.ubuntu.com)
> > >> =A0 * forum-like interfaces through Google, Gmane, etc.
> > >> =A0 * a centralised and reliable store of message archives
> > >> =A0 * other archives around the Internet
>
> > > All of this remains
>
> > >> =A0 * no burden of administration on any community member
>
> > > Someone has offered to admin it.
>
> > "Someone"
>
> > Do we have certainty that this service will continue for the long
> > term? Will it have the same level of reliability and performance as
> > using Canonical's servers?
>
> > Can we trust a proprietary service? At least with Canonical there is a
> > degree of trust.
>
> > >> Another key question is who will own the posts. I don't want my post=
s
> > >> to be owned by some unknown entity. I can post to lists.ubuntu.com
> > >> with some assurance that they'll do the right thing with regards to
> > >> rights. Even if they don't, my messages are still mirrored around th=
e
> > >> Web.
>
> > > As it interfaces with the lists, it will be the same as now.
>
> > I still don't see how turning everything upside down will bring any
> > benefit. We already have a system that is tried and proven, and there
> > are multiple capable Web interfaces to use. Would it make you feel
> > better if I called Google Groups or Gmane a "forum"?
>
> > If you're so wedded to vBulletin, there's always ubuntuforums.org. Why
> > have another?
>
> > Based on experience, I can say that this is not something that
> > Ubuntu-Au should be doing. It's a lot of work for no gain.
>
> > --
> > Bring choice back to your computer.
> >http://www.linux.org.au/linux
>
> --
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u-au