On Sat, Mar 20, 2021 at 12:46:57PM -0600, David Siegel wrote: > The board has been thinking about enhancements to the NANOG list for a > couple of years now, with the goal of creating a modern interface that the > younger generation of engineers will be more comfortable using.
This isn't a valid goal. It's fine that some people can't handle mailing lists -- but then they shouldn't be network engineers or system admins, because (a) using mailing lists is a fundamental skill required in those fields and (b) anyone can't master such a rudimentary task in relatively short order really isn't equipped to be an engineer/admin. (Just like someone who can't do binary arithmetic or grasp multi-step processes shouldn't be an engineer/admin. This doesn't make them bad people, it just makes them people who are unlikely to be successful in the field.) > Those of you that have attended recent NANOG members meetings may recall > that we are currently beta testing a new community interface called > discourse as part of our NANOG modernization strategic initiative. Discourse is a MAJOR downgrade from the functionality of mailing lists. Oh, it's shiny and pretty and all that, but it's not a good tool for serious professional or even amateur communication. (And, of particular interest to *this* list, it performs extremely poorly -- if at all -- when confronted with (a) network outages and congestion and (b) attacks and abuse. Two of the *many* significant advantages of properly-run mailing lists are that they continue to function plausibly well under highly adverse conditions and that there are numerous, well-understood tactical and strategic mechanisms for defending them.) ---rsk
