[croquet-dev] RE: Croquet mail list..(some thoughts to share...)

 > But I was wondering why the mailing list is used as a method of communication for a collaborative based tool? When there are much better methods of recorded and threaded dialogues and discussion technologies available - such as Forums, newsgroups, bulletin boards... etc. 

 

I know of nothing that reaches a group of people more consistently and effortlessly than a mailing list. For tech support type questions it might be good to move solutions to a knowledge base or wiki but for initial problem-solving threads, a community listserv is going to reach people who know the answers more effectively than a forum at this point (central documentation on croquet is kinda weak right now). When you get dozens of new users asking the same tech support questions again and again that's when an opensource project grows out of a dev mailing list for threads and should then use the list just for announcement/broadcast type stuff imo. But right now we have croquet confusion even among the vested developers so it would be good to keep an active list until there are a set of "sticky" answers that you can publish for people to look up on their own. Often I see questions posted that go completely unanswered. Imagine how much worse that would be on a forum where a stray post just gets buried if no one replies right away. At least this way I have to hope the people who really know croquet inside and out are getting emails from the rest of us. ;) 

 

Forums and bbs require users to make extra effort to login and actually delays conversations by adding that extra step which most people can't afford to do every day for every group they are tracking. But everyone checks their email at least once a day. 

 

A nice combo application for threaded discussion right now is anything like a google group where you have the forum-style conversation threads online for people who prefer that *and* mailing options for people who wouldn't otherwise remember to check the forum site.

 

If you dig bbs/forums you might enjoy using Gmail because it automatically organizes your emails into conversation threads much like a forum. You can forward any other email address you have to Gmail as well to use those features without switching to a gmail address.

 

-Kelly

 

 
 

Charlie Hope wrote

 
Hi,
 
I've appreciated the email mail list is a method for communicating with other interested parties and particularly the experts in this area.
But I was wondering why the mailing list is used as a method of communication for a collaborative based tool? When there are much better methods of recorded and threaded dialogues and discussion technologies available - such as Forums, newsgroups, bulletin boards... etc.
 
I find it difficult to keep the thread on each topic as it develops and find it a pain to have an accumulation of email in my inbox, when  I know a simple bulletin board/discussion thread, could handle it more efficiently for all concerned.
 
Are there any moves a foot to do this, is there is croquet discussion site?Thanks
Charlie



> Date: Fri, 2 Feb 2007 13:48:05 -0500> From: shack@liferain.com> To: croquet-dev@duke.edu> Subject: Re: Croquet vs. Secondlife regarding future development (some thoughts to share...)> > I'm definitely interested in participating in discussions surrounding > Croquet, SL, Multiverse, etc, but even after spending 2 years in SL on a > daily basis, I don't find it to be a very compelling medium for > intellectual discussion. Forums, newsgroups, mailing lists, email, and > blogs work much better for me when it comes to thoughtful interaction.> > Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see any compelling value in > everyone piling into SL to have a "face-to-face" discussion in chat. > That is, unless someone has something to demonstrate or a prepared > presentation.> > Just curious about other people's experiences with meetings inside SL or > similar environments.> > --Shack> > Kaan Bingöl wrote:> >> It would be nice if there where an agenda around before the meeting takes place...> >>> >> regards, hussayn> >> > > It would be nice to connect to SL and meet with you for a more collaborative way of preparing this list.> >
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From: [hidden email]
To: [hidden email]
Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2007 09:12:32 -0600
Subject: RE: [croquet-dev] RE: Croquet mail list..(some thoughts to share...)

 

 > But I was wondering why the mailing list is used as a method of communication for a collaborative based tool? When there are much better methods of recorded and threaded dialogues and discussion technologies available - such as Forums, newsgroups, bulletin boards... etc. 

 

I know of nothing that reaches a group of people more consistently and effortlessly than a mailing list. For tech support type questions it might be good to move solutions to a knowledge base or wiki but for initial problem-solving threads, a community listserv is going to reach people who know the answers more effectively than a forum at this point (central documentation on croquet is kinda weak right now). When you get dozens of new users asking the same tech support questions again and again that's when an opensource project grows out of a dev mailing list for threads and should then use the list just for announcement/broadcast type stuff imo. But right now we have croquet confusion even among the vested developers so it would be good to keep an active list until there are a set of "sticky" answers that you can publish for people to look up on their own. Often I see questions posted that go completely unanswered. Imagine how much worse that would be on a forum where a stray post just gets buried if no one replies right away. At least this way I have to hope the people who really know croquet inside and out are getting emails from the rest of us. ;) 

 

Forums and bbs require users to make extra effort to login and actually delays conversations by adding that extra step which most people can't afford to do every day for every group they are tracking. But everyone checks their email at least once a day. 

 

A nice combo application for threaded discussion right now is anything like a google group where you have the forum-style conversation threads online for people who prefer that *and* mailing options for people who wouldn't otherwise remember to check the forum site.

 

If you dig bbs/forums you might enjoy using Gmail because it automatically organizes your emails into conversation threads much like a forum. You can forward any other email address you have to Gmail as well to use those features without switching to a gmail address.

 

-Kelly