On Fri, November 4, 2005 9:09 pm, GamblerZG wrote: > AFAIK, there are no "official" forums for PHP. Considering the fact > that > PHP is a web development tool, such distaste for message boards is > ironic at the least. So why exactly there aren't any forums on > php.net? There are no decent PHP forum software packages that aren't riddled with security problems and really nasty PHP code. I sincerely wish the preceding statement were false, as my clients ask me for forums and I just say "No." I would welcome a rebuttal from Chris Shifflet. Most anybody else can just stifle their response. :-) Maybe your first proposal needs to be to put a Tiger Team together to BUILD a decent PHP Forum with quality code, and a true security audit. Until you have that, the owners of php.net will almost-for-sure squelch any forum proposal, as they already have way too many headaches from all the PHP forum software being targetted and maligned as "PHP Security Flaws" [sic] Does php.net really have the resources to support the traffic of an official PHP-General forum? It's all very well for a zillion sites to set up their little forums, but if you think 200 emails per day is a lot, how many forum posts do you think there would be? Are not the PHP resources already strained? Are you willing to contribute a server pool to handle the load? Can you find a donor willing to do so? Are you volunteering to moderate the damn thing? Cuz I sure won't. :-) I personally seldom come "back" to forums. I find what I want, and I contribute what I can, when I can. Though less now than before, since I'm not willing to set up an account for a forum I know I'll never visit twice... And invariably I forget what they forced me to use as a Username. I can remember my throw-away password just fine, thanks, but I got no idea what Username I had to take after the one I wanted was gone. So, extrapolating from my sample of one (1) user, how many hard-core PHP gurus are willing to contribute to the proposed forum on php.net? A php.net PHP forum without quality moderators and even higher quality contributors would be a disaster. You'd need to line up those resources first and foremost, as well. Put me down as "wish I could, but know I probably won't." Sorry. I'm trying to present these issues in a constructive criticism light -- If you can get a GOOD forum with quality content and the resources behind it and without the severe security headaches I anticipate up on php.net, by all means, go for it! A more realistic proposal to consider, if quality forum PHP software does exist, contrary to my beliefs, would be to seek out the BEST PHP forum[s] in that software and see if the owner[s] would be willing to migrate/co-host it to php.net, perhaps even under some kind of "co-branding" operation. Otherwise, the stuff outlined above might seem just a bit too daunting. Just an idea to toss around. PS In the meantime, there are several quality forums around with very dedicated and generous hosts who would very much welcome your contributions. Zend.com springs to mind. I'm pretty sure there are other great ones out there, though I mostly find them by Googling rather than knowing the URLs. SORRY!!! At any rate, start making a lot of serious contributions to the one you think is best, to add weight to the quality of content, so that you can point to it as a "good" thing to exist on php.net -- Like Music? http://l-i-e.com/artists.htm -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
