[TxMt] Re: Actual Forum?

[Hans-Joerg Bibiko]

On 29 Jul 2008, at 09:37, Will Robertson wrote:

> On 29/07/2008, at 4:59 PM, Hamster wrote:
>
>> On 29 Jul 2008, at 00:16, podperson wrote:
>>
>>> I know there are people who (for some reason) prefer mailing lists
>>> to actual
>>> forums, but I'd like to cast my vote for a proper forum.
>>
>> Hi, I'd like to register my preference for staying with a mailing
>> list. I find forums horribly unmanageable.
>
> Don't forget: a Google group can be accessed either as a mailing  
> list or a forum. You can either post to the list via a web form or  
> through your email client. Ditto for browsing. It's not just the  
> best of both worlds, it *is* both worlds.

By my opinion that's point. What's the main difference between a forum  
and a mailing list? Actually I don't see a difference. Why should we  
change it thus? Mailing lists are in some sense clean structured  
without any fancy stuff and ads. If you like a forum-like view switch  
to view threaded or use an app which can displayed it.
The next point is if you want to follow a discussion on a mobile  
device (like my iPhone) it is much easier to use a mailing list than  
to browse to a forum. Then it's often the case that forums allow to  
create sub-categories to be "clearly arranged". But this could lead to  
be confusing, and sometimes I do not know where to post my question.

Furthermore I'm often in areas of the world where I have limited  
access to the internet and with a very low bandwidth. In order to  
follow a list I'm using the good old UNIX pine to read my mails  
without any fancy images etc.

And regarding to Google groups. Well, these are not bad, but you find  
the word "Google" in it. What happens if Google will become insolvent ;)

Thus I plead to use a minimalist mailing list.

--Hans