[cw-discuss] Web Forum Poll

[Matt Wilkie]

> Hello everyone. We are curious how many of you like the idea of
> switching this discuss mailing list to a web based forum.

Thank you for giving us a chance to comment on and influence the
decision. Being a new Crossover customer it increases my trust in
Codeweavers, which at this point for me is still an unproven entity.

Like others have commented, a full two-way or three-way system between
email, news, forae would be the dream. Simply use the tools at hand to
locate or request the information desired. I've not experienced a
system like this, but would like to. P:-)  That said I wouldn't want
Codeweavers to dedicate too much resources to building one, there are
still a lot of programs which don't work on Wine after all.

For communities which I feel a sense of membership and spend a lot of
time in I seem to gravitate to email as the preferred communication
mechanism. For places where I'm just passing through but need to drop
a word of advice or ask a quick question I prefer a forum -- so long
as registration is easy (or non-existant). The overhead of subscribing
to a mailing list, asking or imparting what is needed, and then
unsubscribing, or deleting a never ending stream of unwanted messages,
is just too much. Consequently there are some classes of questions
which never get addressed, leaving a small but lingering taste,
something like a slightly burnt soup.

For the middle ground where I'm neither a full fledged member nor a
one night stand I've taken to subscribing to the mailing list, setting
the mail delivery option to [none], and then using Nabble to keep tabs
on the threads and occosionally jump in where appropriate. This
approach saves me from having to expend mental energy on a daily basis
filing or deleting irrelevant conversations (to me) when I'm engrossed
in other projects, yet still allows me to easily participate when my
attention changes.

The earlier warning about a badly resourced forum being worse than
none at all is to be heeded. I've just spent 2 frustrating evenings
trying to use the Asus forums, possibly the worst I've ever seen. It
will be some time indeed before I ever go back there again; and this
from a *big* company. The best forae I've participated in and continue
to use are the ubuntu forums. They continue to provide a good
experience because by and large the user community is helpful and
dedicated (e.g. it's the social qualities which make it work, more
than the technical base it's on).

No matter what system is chosen, searchable, bookmarkable archives are
a must. And please default to AND searching(!)

thanks again for the opportunity to comment.
-- 
-matt