Dear all, In an effort to better support the gem5 community, there has been a suggestion that we drop the gem5-users mailing list and replace it with Discourse, https://www.discourse.org/about, a web-based discussion platform. I'm writing this email to propose this to the community and ask for feedback on the matter.
We have noticed that using mailing lists as our primary communication platform is problematic. Sending an email to a list can be daunting experience, requiring an etiquette many are not accustom to. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels like they are unduly bothering a large number of people when posting to a list (like I'm doing right now :) ). This is, of course, an unfortunate hurdle for many to get over when they encounter problems using gem5, particularly those new to the project. I've come to believe mailing lists are simply not a very good technology for fostering community engagement and helping those who are running into difficulties. Mailing lists are also difficult to search, and lack proper formatting mechanisms to neatly display attributes such as code and output logs. Looking around at alternative technologies available, Discourse appears to be a suitable replacement. For those unaware, Discourse is (essentially) a revamp of messaging forums. It is an increasingly popular platform for users and developers in open source projects to communicate with one another (see LLVM's discourse as an example: https://llvm.discourse.group). All-in-all, I think it's a well-designed product and contains all the features we'd expect and need to get our work done. I can see no immediate downsides to using it, though feedback from the community on the matter would be greatly appreciated, particularly from those who have used Discourse before. Dissenting opinions on the whole idea of moving away from the gem5-user's mailing list are also welcome. So, let me know what you think! :) Please note, regardless as to any decision made, we will continue the use of the gem5-dev mailing list for technical discussions for the foreseeable future. Kind regards, Bobby -- Dr. Bobby R. Bruce Room 2235, Kemper Hall, UC Davis Davis, CA, 95616 web: https://www.bobbybruce.net _______________________________________________ gem5-dev mailing list -- gem5-dev@gem5.org To unsubscribe send an email to gem5-dev-le...@gem5.org %(web_page_url)slistinfo%(cgiext)s/%(_internal_name)s
