General Discussion (about this site)

[julf]

> Bear in mind the email integration is an added convenience
> designed to help transition people from an old fashioned mail
> list to a relatively richly featured web based forum.

I have to disagree with your description of mail as "old fashioned".
It's like saying "books are old-fashioned, we should all read
newspapers". Both web pages and email have their pros and cons.
The only real benefit of a web-based forum is the integration
of pictures and documents, but that is (in my opinion) better
done with a separate wiki site anyway.

With email, I can download all my email in one go, and then
read it off-line, while travelling (or waiting at the dentist).
It also automatically comes into my inbox, without me having
to remember to go check a web site.

I know from experience that the extra hassle of a web forum will
make me drop out of the forum eventually - the only discussion
groups I have been following for more than a year or two are
e-mail-based.

It would be preferable if everyone just used the web interface.
But I would suggest it is a must when compiling complex posts.

Unfortunately I disagree strongly. But I also realize that whoever
sets up a forum is the one to set the rules - as an user, all I can
do is vote with my feet.

Julf

(P.S. if you google me you see that I am no Internet luddite, But
my 30 years of using the net in it's different forms has given me
some pretty strong views of what works for me, and what doesn't)