[Samba] Samba Forum vs. Mailing List?`!

[Tom H. Lautenbacher]

Hello John

> >>> I wanted to ask if there is an official Samba Forum
> 
> No, but there is a WiKi: http://wiki.samba.org

A Wiki is IMHO a GREAT thing.

But a wiki is the database that gathers the RESULTS of discussions, i.e. the
SOLUTIONS to problems. A wiki is a great 2nd step to place ready solutions,
FAQs, howtos, etc. after having solved the PROBLEMS in e.g. a forum, a
newsgroup or a mailing list.

> There are also the #samba and #samba-technical IRC channels.

An IRC channel is right the opposite direction I would like to go: It makes
the communication even more interactive and even more temporary, than a
mailing list.

> I guess that what you are really arguing for is a quick, free, source of
> advice that meets your preferences for format and communications method.
> 
> There are plenty of commercial support providers for Samba from whom you
> could almost certainly obtain quick and accurate advice.  That is a key
> difference between free advice sources and commercial ones.

No I do not want any commercial support. I want structured information at my
fingertips :-)
 
> By definition, in a communications world where everyone's voice is equal
> there is a mass of mis-information.  The challenge faced by the consumer
> of free information is the burden of filtering out the noise. That
> burden applies to a mailing list as well as to a forum or a WiKi.

FACK.

> In addition to the mass of incorrect information, most public and free
> information sources (for example Google search) will readily help you to
> locate people who have a problem, but few who post the solution.  There
> are two key reasons for this:
> 
> a) By the time the problem has been solved there is pressure to move on.
> Problem gone, so forget the agony - move on.

Well this is an interesting point. I have to say that for me I have
recognized the following psychological effect, and I assume that this
applies to others, too:

I am realizing a higher will to contribute my solutions afterwards to the
community, if I have the impression that my effort is going to be existing
somewhere permanent, and not to be something of temporary character..
This is why I love to contribute to wikis, too.
 
> > draw a network diagram with ASCII art...
> 
> That's why we have the WiKi. http://wiki.samba.org

The wiki is a very good thing! But it is another means of communication that
again for itself serves other demands of communication. It serves the
archiving of ready solutions, not the finding of those. But solutions found
in discussion forum can be quite easily transformed to an entry in a wiki.

> If you want editing rights - just ask.

A wiki should have editing rights for everyone. See Wikipedia. Otherwise it
loses a great deal of it's idea and of it's power and momentum.

> > Well there are many pros and cons to everything.
> > Fact is, that I am having a problem with Samba to that I can't find any
> > information, but instead get "spammed" with 30 emails that do not really
> > concern me. Fact is that although Windows 7 is out for a long time now,
I
> > had to find all the information about the needed registry patches in
some
> > other forums or spread over some archived mailing-list fragments, hard
to
> > read and difficult to find. A decent userforum/knowledgebase would have
> > served in a much more efficient way!
> Have you read the on-line documentation from the Samba web site?
> http://www.samba.org/samba/docs

Yes.

> > So my final question:
> > If I would help making a Samba-Forum, would there be anybody here who
> would
> > appreciate and would like to use it? Would the "official" guys among you
> > want to implement it to the samba-homepage?
 
> Firstly, you do not need permission to create a Samba-Forum.  If that is
> your passion - just do it.

> Secondly, what do you mean by "official" guys?
 
> Send me the link to your Samba-Forum and I will add it to the Samba web
> site. If you really need a blessing we can arrange that, but it will
> cost extra. :-)  (Joking!!!).

Well yes, sure, nobody could stop me in making some unofficial
Samba-Userforum on my server.

But for a forum to prosper and to become truly a great thing, it is
necessary that it becomes the "official" forum of a project. "The"
Samba-Forum - not the unofficial forum no. 2010320 out of 3000000 of some
private internet nerd.

With "official" guys I mean the core team that decides e.g. what is part of
the Samba Project site www.samba.org.
A plain link would not be enough to become the official forum. It should be
fully integrated into the website of samba.org, becoming a part of it (no
matter on what server the forum actually lives!)

And then secondly it would need you guys actually want it! Because it will
be up to you - the existing and already involved Samba users - to start
using the forum so that it might attract others - new samba users - to join.
If no one over here is actually interested in such a forum, then the whole
effort is doomed right from the beginning.

Best regards
Tom