> > A quick look at some of the successful forum/mailing list projects, for > > instance Ubuntu, reveals that not only they have both, but also both > methods > > of communication are teeming with activity. > > Teeming with activity but close to zero signal amongst the noise. > > I keep on searching google for solutions to Ubuntu based problems. > All of the top hits on google point to UbuntuForums and when I > go there there is almost never an answer. The UbuntuForums are > absolutely chock full of "Me too" or people saying "that didn't > work for me". Ironically, my experience is that solutions to most of my very hardware and/or setup-specific problems were found on Ubuntu forums. More so, some of them were even applicable to Fedora install but were not available on the Fedora forums... Many of their how-tos are very helpful which points to another advantage of a well-designed forum: readability. > > > FWIW, as far as the "speed" of forums is concerned, it largely depends on > > what you use in combination on what kind of hardware you run. I've seen > some > > that are quite fast despite the often dubious eye-candy. > > Connecting to some web server on the other side of the planet > will always be slower than accessing mail that has been delivered > to me and is sitting on my hard drive. You still need to receive such e-mail either actively or passively. It does not miracoulously teleport into your HD. Either way, we are again talking about personal preferences, rather than potential needs and/or interests of an average user (which may or may not be something you find of value and/or importance). Best wishes and Happy Holidays to you and the rest of the list! Ico
