Mailing-Lists (pointer)

[dn]

On 10/01/2023 08.46, Stefan Ram wrote:
>    If anyone is interested: In "comp.misc", there's a discussion
>    about the use of mailing lists in software development.
>    Subject: An objective criteria for deprecating community platforms
>    (I did not create this subject!)

(and I don't read comp.misc)


There is an increasingly relevant question though: how do we 'reach' as 
many people as possible, without diluting the (community) value of 
responses?

At one time, if you wanted to talk/hear certain folk you felt compelled 
to join Twitter (see also AOL, MySpace, Facebook, ...). Recently many 
more people have realised that a single, centralised, (and 
corporately-owned) 'service' has its down-sides.

If there are too many channels for communication, it increases the 
difficulty for any one person to 'keep up', eg python-list and python-forum.

On the other hand, by splitting the community, eg python-list and 
python-tutor, there are benefits of relevance and focus.

What some don't seem to appreciate is that whilst a conversation such as 
"how do I ..." seems to have the objective of (quickly) solving that 
(one) person's problem, at that one point in time; it also (potentially) 
forms a 'knowledgebase' for people who have the same problem, at some 
later time.

For those brought-up with, or in the mode of, 'instant messaging', there 
is no concept of future-value. This is evidenced by the many folk who 
fail to scan the mailing-list archives before posting a question 'here' 
(who may not even realise that archives are kept, and for that very 
purpose).

This in-turn, feeds the notion of splitting 'learners' from 'core 
developers' (for example). How many times have you seen a question about 
how to use Python for the very first time after installing on Windows?

See also the wisdom of enabling comp.lang.python and python-list as 
'mirrors', enabling those who prefer one mechanism/client to another, 
yet maintaining a single 'community'.

-- 
Regards,
=dn