Steve Stallings wrote:

>Does this forum support subscribing to e-mail feed of
>new messages, or is plowing the web the only way to
>read it?
>  
>
I don't think you can get all posts as emails, but most forum software 
allows you to be notified if a thread you've posted to gets any replies.

Note that you don't get the reply in the email, you usually get a 
message saying that there has been a reply, and you then need to go to 
the forum to see it (with a provided link, usually).

I have a couple of concerns about adding a forum.  First, it means that 
the "support staff" has one more place to look for people who need 
help.  On a forum, that usually means several new places, because you 
generally want to categorize things somewhat.  This categorization leads 
to other issues also, since people will cross-post, or put things in the 
wrong place, or just not know where to look for information.

Second, it adds another place for a user to look for help.  While 
multiple sources of support aren't a bad thing in and of themselves, it 
can be confusing for a new user to find the "right" place to get help.  
The main problem we have with EMC2 in the first place is confusion at 
the myriad options available (and the word Linux, but that's another 
topic :) ), so making support equally confusing would be a step 
backwards IMO.

Third, forum software is another thing to understand and monitor.  There 
are new exploits every day, and it's not easy to keep things "safe and 
secure".  People will scribble all over the front page, pop up unrelated 
and possibly offensive material, etc. etc.  On a forum I help 
administer, the only way to fix this problem was with a shell login - I 
had to mess with some file permissions so the forum software couldn't 
write to them.

OK, I guess that's a few concerns :)

I appreciate the offer of help, but I do want to be sure it's the best 
thing for the user base and the people who support them before going 
ahead with it.  It takes a long time (years) for a forum to become 
popular and useful, this isn't an experiment that we can run for a few 
weeks or months (and what would happen to the information if we shut the 
forum down at a later date?  ... )

I'm not against a forum, I just don't know if it's a "Good Thing" yet.
- Steve


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