[Gardeners] Getting things rolling

[Paolo Amoroso]

CJ Fleck <list.cj at gmail.com> writes:

> While the web site is going up, move this mailing list to a forum.   

If you mean a web-based forum, I disagree.  I personally don't like
such forums because of the following reasons:

- They force the same user interface down everyone's throat.  With
  email/NNTP, I--and everybody else--can choose my favorite software
  and interface.

- They provide poor editing support, and editing areas are small (it's
  like looking through a keyhole).  I want to be able to comfortably
  do advanced text editing with both text and source code, and see as
  much of it as possible.

- With web forums, I have to access them from different sites with
  different interfaces.  Instead, I can easily and quickly access all
  my messages in a single place.

- Even with broadband Internet connections and reasonably fast
  machines, the performance of web-based forums is not good enough for
  me.  I simply do not want to wait for more than a fraction of a
  second to simply see a message.

I often hear that web-based forums are the wave of the future, and
technology will certainly improve.  And I guess other people's
mileages may--and indeed do--vary.  But as of December 2005, web-based
forums are simply not good enough for me, and I actively avoid them.


Paolo
-- 
Lisp Propulsion Laboratory log - http://www.paoloamoroso.it/log