Re: [boost] Build Boost Back Better

On 4/6/22 03:54, Marshall Clow via Boost wrote:

On Apr 5, 2022, at 5:07 PM, René Ferdinand Rivera Morell wrote:

...

On Tue, Apr 5, 2022, 6:41 PM Marshall Clow via Boost mailto:boost@lists.boost.org> wrote: On Apr 4, 2022, at 10:43 AM, Vinnie Falco via Boost mailto:boost@lists.boost.org> wrote:

...

This came up before but it is worth mentioning again; in addition to a website update to make boost.org http://boost.org/ <http://boost.org/ http://boost.org/> modern and relevant, how do we feel about a transition to forum-based discussion instead of the mailing list?

Strongly opposed.

The beauty of email is that

* the discussion *comes to me*; that I don’t have to go and check some website to see if there are new posts. * I have a local archive of the boost mailing lists going back to (checks…) 2009 at my fingertips. Pre-2009 requires a bit more work. * I can read (and search, and reply) with tools of my choice.

If you know of a forum-based discussion that offers those benefits, I’d love to hear about it.

https://www.discourse.org/ https://www.discourse.org/

I forgot the most important thing about email.

* It doesn’t interrupt me when “new stuff is available”; I can look at it when I want.

I looked at Discourse a year ago, and hated it.

I didn’t see any information about alternate clients, workflows etc a year ago, so I’ll take a look again, but the my take on the default experience was “like Slack, but with cheesier graphics and more sounds, animations, and interruptions”.

I'd like to add another point of consideration. Any centralized service may enact access restrictions based on user's region or other criteria. This is not specifically about Discourse as I don't know if they are practicing this. I know Slack does. Also, web-based forums are more susceptible to user's government access restrictions. Spam, discussions on sensitive or illegal in certain jurisdictions topics and malicious comments stay available online, unless actively moderated, and may be grounds for penalties and access restrictions. Gladly, so far I haven't heard of restrictions applied to email exchange.