From: Tanner Burson <tanner.burson@...>
Date: 2006-05-16T05:08:26+09:00
Subject: Re: Ruby community website / forum

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On 5/15/06, John Gabriele <jmg3000@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On 5/15/06, Austin Ziegler <halostatue@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > I'm not going to speak for anyone else, but I suspect that a *lot* of
> > people are like me on this: I don't have time. I barely have time to
> > read the Ruby blogs and keep up with ruby-talk in any case.
>
> Me too.
>
> > Without guaranteeing a high level of participation from active
> > high-knowledge members of the community, including the Japanese
> > community, a PerlMonks-alike is doomed to failure. Not that I think tha=
t
> > PerlMonks is even remotely worth emulating. The postings on the first
> > page as I look now are spectacularly uninteresting and don't offer
> > anything that hasn't been asked and answered elsewhere better.
> > [snip]
>
> Austin -- I've used PerlMonks in the past, and it's actually more than
> a forum. It's got a ranking system (both posters and posts are ranked)
> that turns out to make the site very useful. There's an interesting
> dynamic going on over there -- when someone posts a very basic
> question, they don't usually get a normal "here's how you do it"
> answer. Instead, they often get a, "here's where you can look in the
> docs for your answer" type of answer.
>
> I think that, when you have a ranking system like they have (i.e. if
> their posts are up-voted, they get more xp), folks tend to want to
> live up to their on-site standing. You know what I mean? It's like,
> they build (visible, via their xp points) a rep (and "title") over
> time. Folks start looking at their home node (which only the user can
> edit -- unlike a wiki) as a useful reference to other good nodes.


So then you can ignore answers from those without good XP?  Spend a week, o=
r
two, tops on the mailing list and you'll figure out quickly who the "gurus"
are.  And then there are the random bits of brilliance by someone you've
never heard of before.  No need for special titles, or "points", just peopl=
e
asking and answering questions because they feel they have something to
share, or learn.  The last thing I'd want to see is a situation that lends
itself to fragmenting this awesome community.

Anyhow, I agree with you that another Ruby forum is not needed. But PM
> is much more than a forum -- it's got extra magic sprinkled on top. ;)
>
>


--=20
=3D=3D=3DTanner Burson=3D=3D=3D
tanner.burson@gmail.com
http://tannerburson.com   <---Might even work one day...

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