[Mageia-discuss] User support mailing list?

[andre999]

Remco Rijnders a écrit :
> On Fri, Jun 03, 2011 at 08:07:16PM -0400, andre999 wrote:
>> Remco Rijnders a écrit :
>>> On Fri, Jun 03, 2011 at 08:32:10PM +0300, Ahmad Samir wrote:
>>>> On 3 June 2011 17:30, Remco Rijnders <remco at webconquest.com> wrote:
>>>>> Dear all,
>>>>>
>>>>> In the past few days since the release (and also before, but less
>>>>> frequently) I notice a number of requests for help and assistance
>>>>> for a
>>>>> variety of issues being posted on this list. To me this seems to be
>>>>> not
>>>>> really on topic for this list which, to my understanding, is more
>>>>> aimed at
>>>>> discussing the direction of Mageia for future releases and the role
>>>>> Mageia
>>>>> should play in the larger free software community.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> "Mageia-discuss is about Mageia general discussions: future plans,
>>>> community, association, ... Feel free to ask any questions here."
>>>> c.f. https://www.mageia.org/mailman/listinfo/mageia-discuss
>>>>
>>>> I am not sure, if the "any questions" part includes support, but I
>>>> think so. History tells us that the higher the number of mailing lists
>>>> the higher the number of unused-and-left-to-cobwebs mailing lists
>>>> become...
>>>
>>> Would that not obsolete half our mailing lists though if "any questions"
>>> are on topic on this list? I interpretate it as "any questions on the
>>> aforementioned topics", though I agree that "..." leaves a lot of room
>>> open to interpretation.
>>
>> I agree with Ahmad's interpretation.
>> As well, I think you will get a better response on this discuss list
>> than with a dedicated user-help list.
>>
>> My reasoning :
>> Many of those who would help you are interested in following the
>> discussions. If they see someone needing assistance, and they can
>> help, they will. But they are not necessarily interested in spending
>> much time helping others. As well, likely they would not be able to
>> help with most problems. Those more strongly interested in helping
>> others are probably already helping on the forums, where it is easier
>> to focus on particular problems needing solution.
>
> I don't understand it (call me thick), but now people are saying that
> the reason why a user gets an answer faster on the mailing list than on
> the forum is because a question asked where it is possibly off-topic has
> a better chance of being answered than in a place where it is on-topic?
>
> Also, while I understand there is a big difference of scale, I'd like to
> invite you to look at the debian-users mailing list for a while or have
> a look at its archives and see which posts go unanswered there as
> compared to the calls for help on our forum. If you feel this is not a
> fair comparison, compare it to debian or ubuntu user forums.
>
> Personal preferences aside, I do not see why the opposition to my
> proposal. Is it really such an outrageous request? I'm honestly
> surprised by some of the reactions I got on here and on IRC yesterday
> too, what to me, seems like a no brainer.
>
> Thanks and regards,
>
> Remco

It is not an outrageous request.
I (and many others) just think that with the current state of Mageia development, that you would be 
better served on the current Mageia discuss list than on a separate user-help list.
Asking for help on this list is not off-topic, in the opinion of most (if not almost all).  It is 
done all the time, and people willingly help.
If Mageia had the thousands of contributors of Debian, the situation could well be different.
As misc pointed out, a large part of the reason there is a better response on this list than on the 
forum, is that more people frequent this list.  I would add, more knowledgable people than would 
likely frequent a user-help list.  But that is just my take on the situation.  I just wouldn't like 
to see such a list being added, and it becoming more difficult to get help.

Another point.  Often a problem brought up on this list makes developers aware of potential 
improvements, which can lead to a better Mageia.  But a developer who might provide the improvement 
is less likely to monitor a user-help list, as well the the developer and discuss lists.
So we're actually trying to give you and other users a better experience :)

another 2 cents :)
-- 
André