Re: [Caml-list] Ask questions on the mailing lists too

[Sam Kuper <sampablokuper@posteo.net>]

On Mon, Jan 17, 2022 at 06:23:05PM +0000, Edwin Török wrote:
> Although it won't help in participating in discussions on
> discuss.ocaml.org, I've recently found out that it has an RSS mode:
> discuss.ocaml.org/latest.rss.  I don't know how good RSS software is
> from an accessibility point of view, but would this at least allow you
> to read the discussions happening there?

I'm unsure how long Discourse retains posts in its RSS feed(s), but
looking at the link you posted above, I don't see any posts older than 3
Jan 2022 (14 days ago).

That's a far cry from the Mbox archives of traditional mailing lists,
which (on well-run lists) can stretch back years/decades.  Those
archives are often goldmines of helpful information.

Also, in addition to missing the bulk of the forum's past posts, unless
users set something up to slurp the RSS feed at least every 14 days (I
don't currently have such a thing set-up), they'd also end up with gaps
in their local stores going forward.

Plus, for local searching/browsing an RSS store of any size, unless
users use an RSS-to-email bridge, they'd need to be running a decent RSS
reader in addition to a MUA.

Additionally, as you point out, even if someone did go to that trouble,
it would still not in itself enable them to post to Discourse.



> As for discourse itself it looks like they are planning on adding a
> chat feature with some limited bridging in the future. If that makes
> it possible to connect with an XMPP or Matrix client would it solve
> the accessibility issues?
> (https://meta.discourse.org/t/introducing-discourse-chat-pre-alpha/210734/5)

For me, the answer to your question would depend on two things:

1.  How well the feature was implemented (cf. RSS feed above), and

2.  My finding a satisfactory XMPP or Matrix client to run alongside my
    MUA - or perhaps some kind of XMPP-email bridge.

(For people who are already happy with their XMPP or Matrix set-ups,
only the first of the above two criteria would apply.)

Plus, if user registration still imposes accessibility hurdles, then
this would still mean read-only access for some users.


Best wishes,

Sam

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