Re: Why doesn't the lua list get replaced with a forum ?

[Philippe Lhoste <PhiLho@...>]

Gunnar Zötl a écrit :
> > I couldn't agree more about lua using a forum, I use forums
> > everyday (such as gamedev.net) and find them much easier than the
> > mailing list.
>
> I don't. I actually find forums rather weird to read, as they usually
> don't have proper threading support, and also lack some other
> features a proper mail client offers.
>
> Of course, this is just me, but I also feel that having a mailing
> list keeps the noise down (apart from the reoccurring "Why isn't
> there a forum" and "Lua needs to be more like
> C/Lisp/Perl/APL/Intercal/IYFL" discussions... ;-).

Yes, this topic (forum) comes from time to time.
Nothing prevent somebody to create a forum, if he feels the compelling 
need and have a little money (to create a Web site) and time (to 
maintain and moderate it) to spend on it.
Of course, the problem is to attract savvy users to it... :-)

I use a lot a forum on a Windows automation language (AutoHotkey).
Compared to a mailing list, it has a lot of bandwidth waste (loading 
over and over the list of last messages, HTML vs. pure text, etc.).
Of course, nowadays, most users won't notice. But indeed, it slows down 
browsing.
An advantage is that you can create entries and update them. Sometime, I 
send a message here and wish I could correct something... :-)
On the other hand, it can be abused, and you can do this with the Wiki.
And people having read the first message won't necessarily read the 
corrected one.

What else? Fluff (BBCode)? Mmmm...
Convenience of reading anywhere? With Gmane interface, you can do the 
same (but read messages won't be marked at home in your e-mail client... 
;-)).
Search? If you cannot search with your e-mail client, you have to learn 
how to! And the archives are available, for fast local search.
Perhaps the only thing missing is a convenient and consistent way of 
referring to older posts: you have to search the archive in one of the 
Web interfaces, and point to it.

Today, I don't mind using a forum, but frankly, I like this mailing list!

--
Philippe Lhoste
--  (near) Paris -- France
--  http://Phi.Lho.free.fr
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