What's On-topic and what's Off-topic on this list

[Stas Bekman <st...@stason.org>]

I've the feeling that many subscribers are quite confused about the 
on-topic/off-topic "policy" on this list.

In general, we try to keep threads mod_perl-centric. Because when the list 
starts to be dumping grounds for other "related" things, with a side effect of 
surging the list's traffic, those who were interested in pure mod_perl 
discussions, simply leave. And among those who leave we lose current or 
potential contributors.

It's extremely hard to tell what's on-topic and what's not, because mod_perl 
programmers touch an enourmous amount of areas at their work. And sometimes 
this list is the only place where you can get an advice on certain topics, 
which happen to be related to mod_perl. But... my rule of thumb of deciding 
what's off-topic is very simple: think whether there is another good place to 
discuss a question in hand.

May be an example will help to explain that approach.

If somebody asks a beginners question on perl; usually how to write their code 
better, or why some code doesn't work, you have to agree that there are plenty 
other forums where this can be discussed (e.g. perlmonks.org). Now, when 
somebody asks about a proper way to generate unique hardly guessable session 
keys, that's a grey zone; on one side this is not a mod_perl specific 
question, on the other side it is, because under mod_perl you can take a 
benefit of process persistance and the way your keys are generated are a bit 
different. If you ask about performance improvement, this is kind of questions 
that are always welcome here, because I doubt there is any other forum where 
there are as many experts in performance as in the mod_perl community. But 
again, this is a grey zone. Obviously when something doesn't work under 
mod_perl, but works under mod_cgi, this is a very ontopic question.

So, the next time you are about to ask a question which is not clearly on 
topic, first think whether you can get your answers elsewhere. If you don't 
where to ask, and you have browsed the help docs, ask about the right resource 
(just like Jeff did). If you have failed to find an answer elsewhere, after 
truly looking for it, I guess it's fine to ask here as a last resort, 
explaining your situation. But some people dare to post a statement: "I know 
that you can answer my question, so I'm asking it here". That's ugly.

I feel that we need to add some sort of explanation of the on/off-topic posts 
issue to http://perl.apache.org/maillist/email-etiquette.html. Perhaps 
somebody who's writing is better than mine can contribute that. I feel that I 
brag too much around and people lose the point. So if somebody can write a 
clear, concise version of my bragging, or even better your own thoughts, 
please do that.

Finally, it's everybody's list. If you don't like the way things are, change 
them. But please don't complain if you do nothing to help others (that's 
unrelated to your post, Jeff :).

__________________________________________________________________
Stas Bekman            JAm_pH ------> Just Another mod_perl Hacker
http://stason.org/     mod_perl Guide ---> http://perl.apache.org
mailto:stas@stason.org http://use.perl.org http://apacheweek.com
http://modperlbook.org http://apache.org   http://ticketmaster.com

Re: What's On-topic and what's Off-topic on this list

[Ged Haywood <ge...@www2.jubileegroup.co.uk>]

Hi all,

On Tue, 17 Dec 2002, Nick Tonkin wrote:

> One thing that's useful for both people who don't know where else to turn
> and people who don't want anything that's not pure mod_perl is simply to
> preface your subject line with [OT] ... it's then very simple to filter
> out unwanted messages in any mail reader.

Heh, which is why I keep telling people to read

http://perl.apache.org/maillist/email-etiquette.html

:)

73,
Ged.

Re: What's On-topic and what's Off-topic on this list

[Nick Tonkin <ni...@rlnt.net>]

One thing that's useful for both people who don't know where else to turn
and people who don't want anything that's not pure mod_perl is simply to
preface your subject line with [OT] ... it's then very simple to filter
out unwanted messages in any mail reader.

- nick

PS Stas, I think maybe you meant to s/brag/ramble/g ... one thing I've
never seen you guilty of is bragging :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
Nick Tonkin   {|8^)>


On Tue, 17 Dec 2002, Stas Bekman wrote:

> I've the feeling that many subscribers are quite confused about the 
> on-topic/off-topic "policy" on this list.
> 
> In general, we try to keep threads mod_perl-centric. Because when the list 
> starts to be dumping grounds for other "related" things, with a side effect of 
> surging the list's traffic, those who were interested in pure mod_perl 
> discussions, simply leave. And among those who leave we lose current or 
> potential contributors.
> 
> It's extremely hard to tell what's on-topic and what's not, because mod_perl 
> programmers touch an enourmous amount of areas at their work. And sometimes 
> this list is the only place where you can get an advice on certain topics, 
> which happen to be related to mod_perl. But... my rule of thumb of deciding 
> what's off-topic is very simple: think whether there is another good place to 
> discuss a question in hand.
> 
> May be an example will help to explain that approach.
> 
> If somebody asks a beginners question on perl; usually how to write their code 
> better, or why some code doesn't work, you have to agree that there are plenty 
> other forums where this can be discussed (e.g. perlmonks.org). Now, when 
> somebody asks about a proper way to generate unique hardly guessable session 
> keys, that's a grey zone; on one side this is not a mod_perl specific 
> question, on the other side it is, because under mod_perl you can take a 
> benefit of process persistance and the way your keys are generated are a bit 
> different. If you ask about performance improvement, this is kind of questions 
> that are always welcome here, because I doubt there is any other forum where 
> there are as many experts in performance as in the mod_perl community. But 
> again, this is a grey zone. Obviously when something doesn't work under 
> mod_perl, but works under mod_cgi, this is a very ontopic question.
> 
> So, the next time you are about to ask a question which is not clearly on 
> topic, first think whether you can get your answers elsewhere. If you don't 
> where to ask, and you have browsed the help docs, ask about the right resource 
> (just like Jeff did). If you have failed to find an answer elsewhere, after 
> truly looking for it, I guess it's fine to ask here as a last resort, 
> explaining your situation. But some people dare to post a statement: "I know 
> that you can answer my question, so I'm asking it here". That's ugly.
> 
> I feel that we need to add some sort of explanation of the on/off-topic posts 
> issue to http://perl.apache.org/maillist/email-etiquette.html. Perhaps 
> somebody who's writing is better than mine can contribute that. I feel that I 
> brag too much around and people lose the point. So if somebody can write a 
> clear, concise version of my bragging, or even better your own thoughts, 
> please do that.
> 
> Finally, it's everybody's list. If you don't like the way things are, change 
> them. But please don't complain if you do nothing to help others (that's 
> unrelated to your post, Jeff :).
> 
> __________________________________________________________________
> Stas Bekman            JAm_pH ------> Just Another mod_perl Hacker
> http://stason.org/     mod_perl Guide ---> http://perl.apache.org
> mailto:stas@stason.org http://use.perl.org http://apacheweek.com
> http://modperlbook.org http://apache.org   http://ticketmaster.com
> 
>