Understood for StackExchange - I agree this is a concern. More generally, using proprietary software is proprietary definitely makes this more of a risk, generally speaking, as this always empowers an entity to pull the plug at any time.
I have asked around for recommendations, and there is one that came up that could be worth adding to the list: AskBot[1]. It is for example used by the OpenStack project: https://ask.openstack.org/en/questions/ and Fedora https://ask.fedoraproject.org/en/questions/ Btw, don't hesitate if you need any help on this - and thanks again for taking care of it. -- Xavier @OpenCraft[2] Schedule a meeting[3] On Tue, Aug 9, 2016, at 17:29, Shauna Gordon-McKeon wrote: > Yes, sorry to be unclear about that! Slack and the mailing lists will > definitely remain active. > The list of tools we're currently checking out includes: AnswerHub, > Confluence Questions, Zendesk Community, Lithium Community, Jive > Community, and Stack Overflow. So far all but AnswerHub are missing > at least one of our high priority requirements, but we haven't > finished evaluating. > > > > On Tue, Aug 9, 2016 at 9:15 AM, Joel Barciauskas <[email protected]> wrote: >> We're definitely not considering getting rid of either the mailing >> lists or Slack, just shifting things that are more "support"/"question"- >> oriented to a better tool that let's us figure out if people are >> actually getting the help they need. Slack is still going to be the >> place for high-bandwidth discussions and the mailing list will still >> be useful for more detailed, prolonged conversations. >> >> Regarding StackExchange, the risk of having the rug pulled out from >> under us is very high, and we wouldn't have a way of getting our data >> out, necessarily. >> >> On Tue, Aug 9, 2016 at 1:56 AM, Xavier Antoviaque >> <[email protected]> wrote: >>> __ >>> That makes sense for the moderation rules, it's true that >>> StackOverflow isn't the most welcoming in that regard. What other >>> tools have you been evaluating so far? >>> >>> One option here could be to create a dedicated StackExchange site, >>> via http://area51.stackexchange.com/ - I don't know the exact >>> requirements and constraints they have in terms of activity and >>> moderation, but that would likely give more freedom to define our >>> own if it was reasonable to match them, while preserving most of the >>> advantages. >>> >>> Btw, when you say that the tool would replace the mailing list, you >>> only refer to the technical questions, the mailing-lists wouldn't >>> disappear altogether, right? They would still be useful and >>> important for other discussions imho - like the current one for >>> example : ) >>> >>> >>> -- >>> Xavier >>> @OpenCraft[4] >>> Schedule a meeting[5] >>> >>> >>> >>> On Mon, Aug 8, 2016, at 16:55, Shauna Gordon-McKeon wrote: >>>> Hi Kelly, thanks for your feedback. As I mentioned upthread, we >>>> like StackOverflow too but are not thrilled by the idea of giving >>>> up control of content moderation & deletion. We want our community >>>> members to be able to get help even if they have trouble >>>> articulating what they need help with, or if their question is >>>> mostly-but-not- >>>> quite a duplicate of a previous question, and we're worried that >>>> won't happen on StackOverflow. Right now we're leaning towards >>>> StackOverflow- >>>> like options that allow us the content moderation we want, but >>>> we're still evaluating. >>>> The tool would mainly replace the mailing list, but it's also meant >>>> to ease the burden on Slack as well. Slack is definitely a great >>>> place to get help in real time, but it also relies on being lucky >>>> enough that someone who can answer your question sees it and has >>>> the time/energy to answer it. We're hoping that people will still >>>> use Slack to talk through problems, get help, etc but that the new >>>> tool becomes the place to get help if informal options like asking >>>> on Slack fail. >>>> >>>> On Sat, Aug 6, 2016 at 6:30 PM, Kelly <[email protected]> >>>> wrote: >>>>> +1 for StackOverflow. Also, the idea of any sort of issue tracking >>>>> / help ticket approach to this is really repellent to me. I really >>>>> prefer a Community Knowledgebase sort of tool. >>>>> >>>>> One question -- would this tool be intended to replace the mailing >>>>> list or slack or both? I think replacing some of the mailing list >>>>> traffic with something more organized makes sense. >>>>> >>>>> Replacing slack would be a bummer though, because I think slack is >>>>> the most accessible to new people who don't even really know what >>>>> to ask yet. It's not a burden to anyone in particular and it's not >>>>> creating a permanent public record of my dumb question. >>>>> >>>>> -Kelly >>>>> >>>>> On Fri, Aug 5, 2016 at 9:08 AM Colin Fredericks >>>>> <[email protected]> wrote: >>>>>> I like Stack Exchange's software fairly well, but if using it >>>>>> means getting their community and moderation norms along with it, >>>>>> I'd rather use someone else. >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> On Wednesday, August 3, 2016 at 11:45:58 AM UTC-4, Shauna Gordon- >>>>>> McKeon wrote: >>>>>>> Thanks everyone for your feedback so far. We're going to be >>>>>>> investigating options over the next several weeks, so feel free >>>>>>> to keep adding input. Peter, I've added your suggested >>>>>>> requirements to the doc, thank you. >>>>>>> re: Stack Overflow, that's definitely on our list to check out. >>>>>>> Our main hesitation with SO is that we wouldn't be in charge of >>>>>>> question & answer deletion, and I think we're much more tolerant >>>>>>> with regards to what kind of stuff we'd like to see stay. SO >>>>>>> does have community-selected moderators though, so it's possible >>>>>>> we could get away with a different culture on the edX portion of >>>>>>> the site. Something to look into. >>>>>>> Justin - we do use an issue tracking system already, JIRA: >>>>>>> https://openedx.atlassian.net/secure/Dashboard.jspa It's not an >>>>>>> ideal system for managing support requests both because it's >>>>>>> somewhat difficult for a newcomer to navigate and because a lot >>>>>>> of support requests are not bugs in the system or feature >>>>>>> requests. So we don't see it as a great fit for our needs. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> On Tue, Aug 2, 2016 at 6:29 PM, Justin Leong >>>>>>> <[email protected]> wrote: >>>>>>>> Hi Shauna, >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> This is great, I was just thinking of how Slack may not be the >>>>>>>> ideal medium for support for Open edX issues, as often times >>>>>>>> conversations can drag on before all necessary information >>>>>>>> about bugs is ascertained. Also, there is no easy way to track >>>>>>>> issues being discussed in Slack. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> I would personally suggest Bugzilla https://www.bugzilla.org/, >>>>>>>> a bug/issue tracking system. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> It's great for organizing bugs/issues by product or component, >>>>>>>> and can help resolve issues more quickly by encouraging users >>>>>>>> to include more information up-front in their bug reports, such >>>>>>>> as the software version that the bug is occurring in, and >>>>>>>> replication steps and expected vs actual results (to be entered >>>>>>>> by the user in the bug summary). >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Other important information can be attached to a given logged >>>>>>>> issue, such as a team member assigned to the bug, status (e.g. >>>>>>>> open, closed, work-in-progress), and resolution (e.g. fixed). >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> One can also assign a priority and severity to a bug report. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Bugzilla has extensive searching functionality, so that users >>>>>>>> can see if their issue has already been logged or addressed. >>>>>>>> The edX team can also easily search for bugs that are currently >>>>>>>> open. Notably, searches can be saved/bookmarked within the >>>>>>>> system for easy access later. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> I have not personally used much of Bugzilla's charting or data >>>>>>>> export functionality, but these features do exist: >>>>>>>> https://www.bugzilla.org/features/. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Bugzilla also plays well with email, and users/team members can >>>>>>>> choose to receive email notifications related to issues that >>>>>>>> they are involved with. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Looking forward to seeing what tool is decided on! >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Thanks, >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Justin >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> On Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at 12:44:00 PM UTC-7, Shauna Gordon- >>>>>>>> McKeon wrote: >>>>>>>>> Hello Open edX community! >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> The open source team here at edX has been talking a lot >>>>>>>>> recently about how we can do a better job of making sure >>>>>>>>> community members have access to the resources you need to >>>>>>>>> troubleshoot problems and get your questions answered. Right >>>>>>>>> now the most common avenues for getting support are our >>>>>>>>> mailing lists and Slack channels, but these tools don’t allow >>>>>>>>> us to easily track frequently asked questions or see how often >>>>>>>>> questions are going unanswered. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> We want to find a better tool so we can better help the >>>>>>>>> community. We’ve brainstormed a list of requirements here: >>>>>>>>> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1J0P2hNXH7hdyxbqi8OCndNrUoxrOXDAbvIGalG6v7qU/ >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Here’s where you come in: we can only see one side of the >>>>>>>>> support experience. We don’t know what, from your >>>>>>>>> perspective, the biggest problems are and the most appealing >>>>>>>>> solutions might be. So please, feel free to suggest >>>>>>>>> additional requirements, and to let us know which of our >>>>>>>>> existing requirements are most important to you. You can do >>>>>>>>> so by adding to this thread in the edx-code mailing list. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> If you’ve got tool suggestions as well, we’d be happy to hear >>>>>>>>> them! Once we’ve got our requirements list set, we’re going >>>>>>>>> to evaluate the most promising options. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Looking forward to seeing your feedback! >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Best, >>>>>>>>> Shauna >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> -- >>>>>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the >>>>>>>> Google Groups "General Open edX discussion" group. To view >>>>>>>> this discussion on the web visit >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/edx-code/cc29587a-57f6-496c-afb9-b9cbaa288e2a%40googlegroups.com[6]. >>>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> -- >>>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the >>>>>> Google Groups "General Open edX discussion" group. >>>>>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>>>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/edx-code/e63d80d1-dddf-418c-8824-8bd61054a248%40googlegroups.com[7]. >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>> Groups "General Open edX discussion" group. >>>>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/edx-code/CAGZf71BXMeS-zBm9stjehx1QkVxRjcCuZWhT5s-X70ZJCZo_rg%40mail.gmail.com[8]. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>> Groups "General Open edX discussion" group. >>>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/edx-code/CAHZjGXtWiMcMiD6sAUYUKPyd2f6-Z8qzfQteY8AoCVvtVwtigQ%40mail.gmail.com[9]. >>>> >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "General Open edX discussion" group. To view this discussion >>> on the web visit >>> >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/edx-code/1470722184.2494480.689920209.3F7BFDB7%40webmail.messagingengine.com[10]. >> >> >> >> -- >> *Joel Barciauskas* >> edX | Engineering Manager, Open edX >> 141 Portland Street, 8th floor >> Cambridge, MA 02139 >> [email protected] >> >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >> Groups "General Open edX discussion" group. To view this discussion >> on the web visit >> >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/edx-code/CAB9y-xfrvRAQyKoVKfGHMSCg6KdbntNf0nZUtSMW%3D8fDAM12oA%40mail.gmail.com[11]. > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "General Open edX discussion" group. > To view this discussion on the web visit > > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/edx-code/CAHZjGXsRzTOob2soq6Qx5RxjHQb%2BD_SeKn0o7%3Dj%2BEsfn43VF5Q%40mail.gmail.com[12]. Links: 1. https://github.com/ASKBOT/askbot-devel 2. http://opencraft.com/ 3. https://calendly.com/antoviaque 4. http://opencraft.com/ 5. https://calendly.com/antoviaque 6. https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/edx-code/cc29587a-57f6-496c-afb9-b9cbaa288e2a%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer 7. https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/edx-code/e63d80d1-dddf-418c-8824-8bd61054a248%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer 8. https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/edx-code/CAGZf71BXMeS-zBm9stjehx1QkVxRjcCuZWhT5s-X70ZJCZo_rg%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer 9. https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/edx-code/CAHZjGXtWiMcMiD6sAUYUKPyd2f6-Z8qzfQteY8AoCVvtVwtigQ%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer 10. https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/edx-code/1470722184.2494480.689920209.3F7BFDB7%40webmail.messagingengine.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer 11. https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/edx-code/CAB9y-xfrvRAQyKoVKfGHMSCg6KdbntNf0nZUtSMW%3D8fDAM12oA%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer 12. https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/edx-code/CAHZjGXsRzTOob2soq6Qx5RxjHQb%2BD_SeKn0o7%3Dj%2BEsfn43VF5Q%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "General Open edX discussion" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/edx-code/1470828398.2819298.691229425.66AF7FF3%40webmail.messagingengine.com.
