[SciPy-Dev] Unpacking the mailing list: Discourse, Slack = Mailing list

[Tyler Reddy]

-1 for sunsetting the mailing list
+1 for having any alternative solutions only "informal--" if people want to
go there and interact with newcomers that's fine IMO, but I'd strongly
prefer not to have more things/technologies/channels to monitor for
decision making

On Thu, 20 May 2021 at 06:11, Ralf Gommers <ralf.gommers at gmail.com> wrote:

>
>
> On Thu, May 20, 2021 at 1:26 PM Matti Picus <matti.picus at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> On 20/5/21 12:40 pm, Pamphile Roy wrote:
>> > Hi everyone,
>> >
>> > We had a chat Ralf, Stéfan and I about moving away from the mailing
>> list.
>> >
>> > The idea would be to move over Discourse under the umbrella of
>> >
>> > https://discuss.scientific-python.org
>> > <https://discuss.scientific-python.org>
>> >
>> > Stéfan proposes to do the migration work and I can also provide some
>> > help if needed (the complete history would be imported).
>> > I also propose to help administrate/moderate this space.
>>
>
> Thanks Pamphile and Stéfan for offering to do the heavy lifting here.
>
> >
>> > As Serge expressed during the meetup, we should be careful when moving
>> > to Discourse as some people
>> > might be reluctant to come. Which would fragment the community. Hence,
>> > we should force the move by sunsetting the mail list.
>>
>
> +1, if the decision is to move - then we should move (= migrate content,
> leave the mailing list behind).
>
>
>> > On the same topic, I would discuss the possibility to use Slack (or
>> > another platform for real-time chat).
>> > This has proven to be helpful for NumPy and other projects and we
>> > should also see the benefits.
>> >
>> > Let us know what you think.
>> >
>> > Cheers,
>> > Pamphile
>> >
>> Among criteria for a community forum might be:
>>
>> - permanence: can we find a discussion in ten years when we went to
>> figure out what led to a particular decision
>>
>> - transparency: will the discussions be archived in a public manner with
>> little need for logins or signups
>>
>> - searchability: is there a good way to search the discussions for
>> relevant fragments (single words are often not enough).
>>
>>
>> So for me slack is not a good option for a community forum, but it could
>> be an additional side channel, as long as it is clear what goes where.
>> NumPy's use of slack is limited to short informal chats between
>> developers or chats with newcomers who might be intimidated by the
>> permanence of the community forum.
>>
>
> +1 to this point. It's probably best to leave Slack for a separate
> discussion at a later time, since it serves a very different purpose from a
> mailing list or forum like Discourse.
>
>
>>
>> I am not sure how long discourse promises to preserve discussions.
>
>
> I think forever? You can always export an archive, in case the hosted
> Discourse ever shuts up shop.
>
> I am a dinosaur and prefer email. Discourse -> email seems to work OK for
>> the
>> python forums I monitor.
>>
>
> Same here. The Python packaging Discourse I follow seems to work well
> though, and is searchable. So while for me personally email / mailing lists
> works okay, I think it's more important to provide a better experience for
> newcomers and the generation that didn't grow up with old school mailing
> lists.
>
> Cheers,
> Ralf
>
>
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