So this is how it ends...and perhaps another place to go!

[jon dossey]

>No, not at all like a message forum, on the forum, everything's
divided into topics, kinda limiting, to switch topics in my inbox,
I just keep going down the list, and pick a different subject.  To
switch topics on the forums, I have to go clicking around, I prefer
go through all my messages with the keyboard commands, as I'm
a die hard keyboard guy - I can run windows just fine w/o a mouse,
and any OS I care about, doesn't use one, unless you REALLY want to.

As I explained in my other post, how about a forum w/ just a listing of
threads?  no subcategories?

>Building X11 properly with whatever window manager(s) you want isn't a
>trivial task. :D

I never have too much trouble ;)

>This is of course, an opinionated statement, as mine usually are, of
>course, but it's not simple preference, it's inherently simpler and faster
>to read through email, and I don't mind the noise to signal ratio, I find
>it to be significantly higher on the forums - where I can't get to
>everything nearly as fast.

I feel that I could write forum software as easy, or easier to use than
you're current setup w/ eudora and the mailing list.   In fact I guarantee
it.  You can even navigate w/ your keyboard, does that help at all?

>This may, in fact, be true, but nonetheless, it's considerably more
>resource intensive than a simple list server using smtp and maybe some
>simple parsing mechanism, period.  I don't know how complicated the forum
>application is, and I know quite a few ways to speed it up, I understand
>the use of semi-static content, aka, event-driven static file regeneration,
>it's still loads more complicated.

I disagree.  Plain and simple.  Thats quite a load on the mailserver.  W/ a
message forum format, you only require bandwith/cpu time for the messages
you want to read.  I really don't understand how its more complicated,
besides, thats the developer's problem, not yours.

>Fonts, style sheets, customizable interface, gack - why do I have to bother
>- if you could make the forums deliverable as a simple email list, IN TEXT,
>I'd love it.  No smiley faces, vb code, or html, though, please.  I just
>don't want to have to read anything through the web interface -  as much as
>I might appreciate the time, resources, and development that goes into it.

How about the default style is black text on a white page?  Images off by
default?

>This list, with FAR less work, and bandwidth more
>efficiently deals with the whole thing, IM(not terribly)HO.

Maybe compared to most bulletin board software and configurations, but you
can't just make that blanket statement.  I can make forum software much less
processor and bandwith intensive than this mailing list.

>You can take my keyboard away when you pry my cold, dead, fingers off it.

Blah!  I'll be buried w/ mine! ;)

I think 99% of people's problems with a message forum is just the simple
fact they don't wanna deal w/ something new.  They're set in their ways.  I
don't mean to imply its a bad thing, just that change can be a good thing.
I think we need to move forward technologically.

.jon
93 SE-R + N2O