Re: question/answer website for user support: shapado.debian.net

[Rob Owens <rowens@ptd.net>]

On Sun, Oct 03, 2010 at 10:09:43PM -0500, green wrote:
> Klistvud wrote at 2010-10-03 14:35 -0500:
> > By setting up a web application that simply "mirrored" the mailing
> > lists ("translated" them into forum form), we could have the best of
> > both worlds. People comfortable with mailing lists would continue to
> > use it in the "mailing list" form whereas people comfortable with
> > forums would use it in the "forum form"; the application would
> > transparently integrate the two, sending any new forum post to the
> > relevant mailing list and, vice versa, pasting any new mailing list
> > message into the forum.
> 
> Like this?
> 
> http://www.debianhelp.org/forum/78

I'm on the backuppc mailing list.  There's a web forum called Backup
Central (I've never used it).  It apparently "attaches to" a bunch of mailing
lists, backuppc included.  The biggest problem for the users of the
backuppc mailing list is that Backup Central users will post to the
forum without doing any quoting.  When you receive that email on the
mailing list, you have no idea what they are talking about.

There are different conventions and needs on forums and mailing lists,
and they can sometimes clash when they are combined like that.  Probably
not an insurmountable problem, but one that needs to be considered.

-Rob