> On Wed, Aug 09, 2000 at 09:42:41PM -0400, Mike Potter wrote:
> > Recently there has been a lot of email on this mailing list, which is both a
> > good thing and a bad thing in my mind. 1. It shows that people are using
> > the software, which is good. However, the questions are not being archived
> > in an easily searchable format. Might I suggest that the questions that
>
> I remember seeing a few archives of this list, when i searched
> for my name (*giggle*) on google. It's not the questions by themselves, but
> it's still searchable.
I always get a kick out of seeing my name on google :)
>
> > people ask (mostly Shawn lately) go into the FAQ that is linked from the
> > site. Perhaps this could interact with the mailing list, so that when a new
> > question is asked we can go and answer it online.
We definitely need someone to be diligent about maintaining the FAQ. I
can't volunteer because I'm *trying* to work on Aquarium. I answer a
lot of questions on the Freetrade mailing list, and I understand that,
to a small degree, my time is being wasted. But the truth of the matter
is, I *enjoy* answering Freetrade questions because it provides instant
gratification in my quest to further the Freetrade effort. Having said
all of this, I'd be very happy if someone stepped forward as a FAQ
maintainer.
> > I appreciate that the mailing list is to be used to help people, however I
> > think that currently it is being slightly abused. People have to take some
> > time to learn programming and know how things function before just popping
> > questions to the list. It makes responding very difficult and will
> > eventually force people to unsubscribe if the traffic levels continue. I
> > think that using the FAQ from the FreeTrade website would be a good idea,
> > that way the questions are answered for the next people who will undoubtedly
> > have the same questions that Shawn and others have been having lately.
Eloquently stated.
> I agree, although the questions asked are to be expected. First of all, the
> FAQ on the freetrade page is severely lacking; that's one of the first things
> my boss complained about when he first tried out freetrade. Second, most
> people try out freetrade expecting an ecommerce _package_, not a _toolkit_.
> In order to make a nice looking site using freetrade, one must have some
> knowledge of php and html, which is why so many people are asking questions.
> Is this an unreasonable requirement? I personally think so, but then, i have
> no idea how to remedy the situation. The ability to edit pages/interface
> within freetrade, without having to touch php (and if we wanted to get fancy,
> html) would result in a lot less "how do i do this in sql/php?" questions..
It has always been Leon's goal that Freetrade be of a toolkit'ish
nature. This cannot be overemphasized. Unless Leon says otherwise,
this part of Freetrade is not up for discussion. In support of his
standpoint, I think that taking the time to understand the
FreeEnergy/Freetrade framework allows a programmer to achieve a much
higher level of configurability than could be achieved with any
"package." Freetrade allows *programmers* to do what they do
best--program. I personally think that Web application frameworks that
aren't of a toolkit'ish nature are irritating and wimpy.
> Perhaps another possibility would be to use this list for users, and create a
> separate freetrade-dev list. Or a list specifically for user questions, that's
> archived on freetrade's site.
Leon?
I appreciate your comments,
-jj
--
if (shannon - jj) * behrens == webEngineer["CLEAR INK�"]:
print "<i>imagination is the only real medium(sm)</i><br>"
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