[Caml-list] Why not a forum instead of a mailing-list ?

[Caml-list] Why not a forum instead of a mailing-list ?

[Nicolas Janin]

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Hello,

Being used to a forum, I find that a mailing-list is a poor and unattractive way, if not a frustrating way, to communicate. One can post only text, no graphics. Yet sometimes graphics can be very useful (for screenshots or concepts, for example).

Moreover, the Ocaml community is split de facto by the mailing-list system and the different sources that spread in different places. Many beginners won't bother posting in this mailing-list because it is mainly used by advanced users. So one has had to create another place for beginners, Yahoo Ocaml_beginners. This obliges me, for instance, to set up an account on this list AND on Yahoo, not mentioning fr.comp.lang.caml and comp.lang.ml newsgroups. 

Not only this is unconvenient, it multiplies the chances of being spammed.

Why not create a real forum dedicated to Ocaml development with a framework like phpBB (under GPL), for example ? It would gather all the Caml users in a single place, which would make the Caml community stronger, more active and therefore more attractive. 

A forum like phpBB allows many more ways of communicating than a simple mailing-list :

 - one can create an unlimited number of parallel forums (one for the advanced users of this mailing-list , one for the beginners, several for projects, for example). 
Access can be controlled. 
Forums can be moderated or not. 
Posts can be categorized in predefined topics

- one can create groups of users, with or without access control.

- one can do all sorts of searches, full-text, or any combination of author, date, forum, topic, etc.

- customized look and feel.

phpBB includes chat rooms, for discussing technical matters in real time.

Good examples of what can be done with the phpBB forum is here :

 - phpBB website : http://www.phpbb.com/features.php
 - phpBB forum, with nearly 75,000 registered members (!): http://www.phpbb.com/phpBB/

 - a large french home-cinema and hi-fi forum with over 15,000 members and 790,000 messages, which makes this place the single most important source of information on this topic in France. Because it is comprehensive and active, it attracts professionnals as well as the large public, and it is read on a regular basis by consumer electronics journalists  : http://www.homecinema-fr.com/forum/

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Re: [Caml-list] Why not a forum instead of a mailing-list ?

[Marcin 'Qrczak' Kowalczyk]

Dnia sob 26. lipca 2003 11:58, Nicolas Janin napisał:

> Why not create a real forum dedicated to Ocaml development with a framework
> like phpBB (under GPL), for example ?

I'm subscribed to over 20 mailing lists from 10 origins. It would be really 
inconvenient to have a different interface to read each of them, each with 
its own limitations which can't be fixed by using a different client 
software.

It's easy to check what's new in all mailing lists with a single key 
combination. It would be significantly harder if I had to click on each forum 
separately (and for each in a different place).

For me a mailing list or a newsgroup are the only viable alternatives.

-- 
   __("<         Marcin Kowalczyk
   \__/       qrczak@knm.org.pl
    ^^     http://qrnik.knm.org.pl/~qrczak/

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Re: [Caml-list] Why not a forum instead of a mailing-list ?

[Bob Bailey]

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for me a yahoo group or the like would be the best...  I would rather get a digest sometimes... or
when I am on vacation just not recieve anything at all.  That way my email account doesn't get
overwhelming...

bob

--- Marcin 'Qrczak' Kowalczyk <qrczak@knm.org.pl> wrote:
> Dnia sob 26. lipca 2003 11:58, Nicolas Janin napisa³:
> 
> > Why not create a real forum dedicated to Ocaml development with a framework
> > like phpBB (under GPL), for example ?
> 
> I'm subscribed to over 20 mailing lists from 10 origins. It would be really 
> inconvenient to have a different interface to read each of them, each with 
> its own limitations which can't be fixed by using a different client 
> software.
> 
> It's easy to check what's new in all mailing lists with a single key 
> combination. It would be significantly harder if I had to click on each forum 
> separately (and for each in a different place).
> 
> For me a mailing list or a newsgroup are the only viable alternatives.
> 
> -- 
>    __("<         Marcin Kowalczyk
>    \__/       qrczak@knm.org.pl
>     ^^     http://qrnik.knm.org.pl/~qrczak/
> 
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[Caml-list] Re: Why not a forum instead of a mailing-list ?

[Markus]

In article <20030726161310.80858.qmail@web40308.mail.yahoo.com>, 
bobbaileyjr@yahoo.com says...
> for me a yahoo group or the like would be the best...  I would rather get=
>  a digest sometimes... or
> when I am on vacation just not recieve anything at all.  That way my emai=
> l account doesn't get
> overwhelming...

Why don't you use the gmane news service?
Just point your newsreader to news.gmane.org
and subscribe to the gmane.comp.lang.caml.inria group.
You can even post thru this interface.

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Re: [Caml-list] Why not a forum instead of a mailing-list ?

[Nicolas Janin]

AFAIK, the phpBB forum also allows to suscribe to topics through
mailing-lists, so that one can receive the posts in its mailbox rather than
through the web interface (see for example the homecinema forum I was
refering to, one can suscribe to the mailing list).

Also, by default, I receive email notifications when one replies to my
posts, with a link to the reply (I can turn this feature off on a per-topic
basis too).

Finally, in the web interface, I can choose to see only the subjects I've
seen recently, or the new subjects since my last visit, or those I've
started.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Marcin 'Qrczak' Kowalczyk" <qrczak@knm.org.pl>
To: <caml-list@inria.fr>
Sent: Saturday, July 26, 2003 5:58 PM
Subject: Re: [Caml-list] Why not a forum instead of a mailing-list ?


Dnia sob 26. lipca 2003 11:58, Nicolas Janin napisał:

> Why not create a real forum dedicated to Ocaml development with a
framework
> like phpBB (under GPL), for example ?

I'm subscribed to over 20 mailing lists from 10 origins. It would be really
inconvenient to have a different interface to read each of them, each with
its own limitations which can't be fixed by using a different client
software.

It's easy to check what's new in all mailing lists with a single key
combination. It would be significantly harder if I had to click on each
forum
separately (and for each in a different place).

For me a mailing list or a newsgroup are the only viable alternatives.

--
   __("<         Marcin Kowalczyk
   \__/       qrczak@knm.org.pl
    ^^     http://qrnik.knm.org.pl/~qrczak/

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