So many have now commented on this so I don't know if another email just adds to the spam factor or not...
I also prefer mailing lists before forums. Because: - I subscribe to a number of mailing lists (I count 9 here now), which would translate to a number of forums. I simply don't have the time to go into multiple forum sites, dive into the topics and sub-topics – unless I have a specific issue. What this means is I do visit forums, but not to contribute to a community or answer someone's question, but to ask for help. With a mailing list. it is much easier for me to parse the constant flow of topics as well as contribute, as I can scroll through subjects and pick the ones that I find interesting. I read and sometimes comment, and in that sense contributing to the community. Honestly, I learn tons from the mailing lists I'm subscribed to since it's just so easy to take it in. Of course there are times when I won't have time to parse the steady flow of mailing list topics. But I wouldn't have had time for forums either. Then I also use Stack Overflow. Which is nothing like a mailing list or a forum, in its traditional sense. But it has interesting mechanics which I think a support forum should have. Heck, Google is using Stack Overflow instead of creating their own support forums. Take Google Compute Engine on Stack Overflow for example. I got help directly from the developers on a few things there. But it's designed to work only if you want to gain points by answering questions or if you need to ask a question – or in that case, because the company wanted to provide support. There's no friendly chitchat on Stack Overflow, and there shouldn't be. It's not a community, it's a support forum. I'm not opposed moving these lists to a forum, but I hope that it will offer the possibility to act as a mailing list as well, or at least I will probably just show up when I am facing a tricky issue that I need to solve. Which means I'm going to treat it like Stack Overflow - or a support forum. Not a community. And if that is what is going to happen, I'm sure the ones thinking like me will join in on a regular mailing list, complementing the forum. Regards, Fredrik
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