[mythtv-users] [OT] Mailing Lists...

Stephen Tait tait at digitallaw.co.uk
Thu Dec 9 07:42:31 UTC 2004


At 08:35 06/01/2005 -0700, you wrote:

>Most forums remember your passwords.

As do mail clients...

>Most forums are as easy or even easier to read than threaded mode in 
>Thunderbird (threads are not occasionaly broken).

KMail can go through thirty different threads in a matter of seconds if you 
skim read. Web-based forums are appallingly slow to time-famine people like 
me; there are two I post on regularly, and looking after those is a full 
time job. Lists are coped with fairly automagically by my mail clients 
(even though I'm stuck with the mailing-list-unfriendly Eudora at work).

>Many inportant forums have been around for over 7 years.  How much of 
>that  information is worth anything is a question to many. How many "I 
>can't get sound threads" do we need!

So... forums never get multiple identical threads, eh? Some people never 
use search in forums, and they never use the search on mailing lists. They 
can't be bothered to think. It's endemic.


>Another thing.  Why do people respond "that is in the FAQ" instead of 
>saying "that is already covered in the faq but here is the answer"?  It 
>takes about the same amount of time for you to answer (especially if you 
>already know the answer)  Don't waste my bandwidth!!!!  same goes for 
>"can't wait to see your patch"  It makes you look like elitist snobs. And 
>I believe you are not.  You are trying to help.  If people would learn to 
>help themselves it would all be better.

Well, yes. But if people gave a fully verbose (and identical) reply to 
every inane question that was asked, or said "I'll be painting the shed and 
watering the cat all next week, so someone else will have to code it, and 
besides FFT's are against my religion", they would a) consume alot more of 
your bandwidth and b) spend half their days cutting and pasting segments of 
the install guides. By telling people to read the FAQ or apply some of 
their CPP skills they *are* telling people to learn to help themselves, and 
by extension, others.


>I hate hearing email lists are easier for me.  Because for me they are not 
>easier they are a pain in the butt!

Don't use it then...!

>The "for me" excuse doesn't cut it.

Which kinda nullifies that whole argument, right...? "Person XYZ likes 
mailing lists. I don't. Therefore I am right!"



>---now that I got that off my shoulders....
>
>if gossamer threads did allow login and posting that would solve all of 
>our problems.  That would be the better for everybody solution.  You can 
>have your email and we can have forum!!!!!

It would solve *your* problems. Most of us are very happy with mailing 
lists and much prefer them to forums. You'd miss out on the "I can't get 
sound" mails, and we'd miss out on the "I can't get sound" threads. There 
are plenty of people who like to be able to view and post messages whilst 
offline. There's nothing to stop you setting up your own forums, or using 
one of the many pre-existing PVR forums about MythTV.

P.S. your computer/mail server date is horribly wrong - it's not 2005 yet! 



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