** Peter Nermander <peter at nermander.se> [2011-02-24 11:19]: > > back a solution if I've found it elsewhere). What sticks in my mind is the > > fact > > that some time later, I forget whether it was months or longer, I came > > across > > my post when searching for something related, and there was a reply. > > Clearly a > > decent forum would notify me of replies to my thread, which this one, for > > some > > reason, did not. > > The point is that a forum is not something you join for a one time > question. Nor is a mailing list. > > A forum, as well as a mailing list, is something you join to > participate in discussions.
Whilst in theory that is true, in practise (certainly for me) it is not. A forum is something I will use to ask a question if I can't find the information somewhere else and there isn't the option to join a mailing list to ask. > Say that you instead had asked that question on a mailing list. For > how long would you have continued to receive mails from that list? Likely months or even years. I can back that up by the fact that I have just had a purge of mailing lists and removed some that where I no longer have an interest in the software they support. A couple of these at least I have not used for some years - although I have chipped in with a comment once or twice. Basically, for my use, I can check a mailing list quickly and easily, and do so several times a day when I check my standard mail (unless I'm in a particular hurry). All my lists file into separate folders and I scan through subjects, mark as read and file within a couple of minutes or so. I am currently on 44 discussion mailing lists, and there is no way I would visit 44 forums. Some, admittedly, are extremely quite, whilst others are pretty active. > And most forums DO have e-mail notifications. But I hate them, because > if I you them I get like dozens of e-mail telling me there are new > posts in the forum. I tend to mark email notifications of forum posts to go back to when I get the time, whereas if the full reply was in the email I would read it there and then - and if it warranted a reply it would likely be done there and then too. > For forums with very little activity I usually bookmark the "Search > for new posts since my last visit"-link. I have too many pages of interest bookmarked that need sorting. I will bookmark an interesting page I've found when looking for something else. Often when it becomes relevant I have forgotten I bookmarked it! Perhaps if I used a GUI mail client I would feel differently about forums as I find them much slower to use than my trust Mutt :) ** end quote [Peter Nermander] -- Paul Tansom | Aptanet Ltd. | http://www.aptanet.com/ | 023 9238 0001 ====================================================================== Registered in England | Company No: 4905028 | Registered Office: Crawford House, Hambledon Road, Denmead, Waterlooville, Hants, PO7 6NU
