Rob Weir wrote: > On Fri, Jun 24, 2011 at 5:57 PM, Andy Brown <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> There is a big difference from the users stand point. If you want to >> see how "hot" this topic can get go to [1] and search for forum . As >> an individual I prefer mailing list but I understand why some prefer >> forums. For those that do not have high speed connections forums are a >> bandwidth hog. The disadvantage to a mailing list is most of the time >> you have to be subscribed or you may miss replies to your question and >> makes it hard to follow up as needed. >> >> [1] http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ >> >> For my part we need and can support both. >> > > But do we need a separate thing for both of them? Or would a single > 'place' that supported both forms of access be better? For example, a > forum that allowed mail subscription globally, or per thread? Or a > mailing list with an RSS feed? There are advantages to having a singe > store of information.
I agree that having a single point to store questions and answers would be ideal. I do not know enough about the technology to use or suggest RSS or how they could be combined. From my point of view the technology used is to different. > So are they just used for the same things, but accessed differently? > Or have they diverged to separate, perhaps partially overlapping but > still sufficiently distinct different user communities who have > different styles, different tones, different focuses, etc.? Being on both the mailing list and forum, you see some of the same questions and cross references one to the other. The do serve the same purpose but accessed differently. But it is that access that is important to the end user. Andy
