<Insert obligatory "old man shouting at cloud" meme here>
Quick definition: fora is the plural of forum, as in a web based forum
to discuss a topic or technology, like
https://discussion.fedoraproject.org/.
Having said that...
I love mailing lists. I have filters set up they silently go to the
correct mail folder, I can read through them at my leisure, and I only
have to deal with one client - my mail client. My mail client defaults
to sane viewing rules, threaded, in the order I prefer. It's the same
experience across every mailing list I'm a member of. I love that. It's
very accessibility-friendly.
I hate using fora. I generally have to open a separate tab for each
forum I'm on, and I'm on a LOT. And I have to go out of my way to even
remember all the fora I am a member of. For those of us who are members
of a bunch, it's kind of a beating - especially if you're an ADHD
person, like me. I get that I can (sometimes) set up email notifications
when there are responses to my posts or comments, but... if we're
already emailing forum members, why the heck don't we just use email lists?
I also love that I see interesting problems on mailing lists that I'd
never thought of or dealt with, and it's right there, in the list's mail
folder. I learn a LOT perusing those messages. It's there, I can easily
read through the threads when I get a minute. And I don't have to
remember to fire up a new browser tab to parse them.
The whole "fora are an archive" argument is kinda nonsensical, since
mailing lists are generally archived on the web, as well. In my
experience, mailing list archives are easier to search than a forum.
I get the sense that moving from email lists to fora was a move to force
folks to go to a web site to drive advertising. I kinda hate that. When
Red Hat moved from email lists to fora (log in required), I got the
sense that it was really to gather information about who was interacting
with their web site. Ditto pretty much every other vendor who moved from
email lists to web based fora - this isn't a Red Hat or Fedora specific
thing.
Am I the only one who feels this way? Has the day finally come where I'm
just old and set in my ways? Are there others who prefer mailing lists
to fora?
To be clear, I am not bashing fora, per se - I'm just saying that for
me, they're not NEARLY as easy to deal with as email lists. If you like
fora, that's awesome. I'm not attacking you. Let's nip that in the bud.
I'm not looking for a flame war, just trying to see if other feel the
same way. Let's keep it civil.
Thanks,
Thomas
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