[Wine] Re: Sum-up: Re-proposal: web forums

[Philippe A.]

You see Google Groups as something very Google-specific and you don't like
it. This is maybe because you don't know what Google Groups is? I will try
demystifying Google Groups a bit for our readers. I guess you know what
newsgroups are, and that they existed before Google. What Google did is to
index them into their database. They did not only that, they also created a
great web interface to browse them. That's Google Groups. That's all there
is to say for our current concern. True, only registered users may post
through Google Groups, but anyone can browse them and anyone can post into
them through a newsreader. Heck, chances are there is a newsreader
integrated in your current mail client.

2006/4/22, Segin <segin2005 at gmail.com>:
>
> Hello, I have noted below problems that we can take care of [...]


> 4) Missing Googlish search function
> >[...]
> Well, that's not a real problem because it is truthful for some poor
> people that don't use Yahoo!/GMail/Hotmail/Excite/etc. (those services
> offer large email boxes)


This isn't very serious. It's like you're saying there is no point searching
archives because you can leave everything in your inbox. Well I don't want
to download months of archives in my mailbox to be able to search them.

>Solution 2:  Point people at Gmane or Google Groups in a prominent place
> >========================================================================
> >
> >  Pros:
> >   ) We don't have to do anything :-).


You may want to try to transfer archives into the newsgroup, if that's
feasible. You may also need to learn more about how newsgroups are
registered etc. I don't know anything about that myself.

>  Cons:
> >   ) If it's not directly on winehq.org, it's probably not official
> >enough that people are going to use it.


Oh come on. A project like the Eclipse IDE could have their official
newsgroup listed on their website but Wine could not?

>   ) Not everyone has a Gmail account (required to post through Groups)
> >   ) Not everyone is adept to using Gmane
>

Right. But not everyone is adept of (mailing lists|newsgroups|forums|you
name it). That's not the question. The question was how we thought things
could be improved. Maybe you should propose status quo, if it is what you
have in mind.

Here's my own evalutation of the newsgroup suggestion.

Advantages (most important first in my opinion):
- The fact is a newsgroup is the closest format to the actual mailing list.
- Chances are you will retain the features of your current mail client.
- Chances are it is not too much work to maintain once deployed, compared to
other suggestions.
- You instantly get a very good search.
- You save yourself coding a web interface which has a fraction of the
features found in a newsreader. I guess you can always code one if you want
though.
- You really are doing yourself a favor by using format specifically aimed
by Google.

Costs (worse first in my own opinion):
- Transferring the archives, registration hassles, etc.
- Convince existing users to configure their newsreader.

It really comes down to priorities. Easier submission, better search, better
structure (directory-like structure of a forum)?

Regards!
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