Hello everyone, I'd value your opinions on the issue of web forums vs mailing lists.
A few people recently have offered to host an analog forum; or alternatively insisted that I should have a forum because they didn't want to subscribe to a mailing list. Analog has had mailing lists for mainly historical reasons -- they pre-date the widespread use of forums. Nevertheless, I see some advantages in mailing lists: (i) they prompt you to read them, rather than you having to remember to go and read them, so readers are more likely not to drift away; (ii) I've always regarded forums as in danger of attracting trolls -- mailing lists seem to suffer from this less, perhaps because the bar to participation is a little bit higher; (iii) lots of people can archive them, so you're not dependent on the site staying alive for retaining your whole discussion history. Having said that, it's undeniably true that people now find the web interface more convenient, and they like not having to subscribe. What do other people think? Should I move to a forum for the tech support? Or would better promotion of the existing web archives of the list be good enough (you can read the list there, but not post)? I don't see having both as a good solution, by the way, except for a transitional period. -- Stephen Turner, Cambridge, UK http://homepage.ntlworld.com/adelie/stephen/ "The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than the question of whether a submarine can swim." (Edsger W. Dijkstra) +------------------------------------------------------------------------ | TO UNSUBSCRIBE from this list: | http://lists.isite.net/listgate/analog-help/unsubscribe.html | | Digest version: http://lists.isite.net/listgate/analog-help-digest/ | Usenet version: news://news.gmane.org/gmane.comp.web.analog.general | List archives: http://www.analog.cx/docs/mailing.html#listarchives +------------------------------------------------------------------------
