Make a "Serious" forum

[majikstreet]

Hello,
I have *not* read the politics thread, the "closed politics thread" thread, or the entire "open door thread: help me help you" thread.

My views are simple: make a "Serious" forum. Post a warning at the top.

Let people post these kind of more "serious" threads in there. It's simple.

That forum should not be as strictly moderated. If it gets strictly moderated, it just makes things worse. People have their views, let them discuss them---don't censor them.

Another idea relating to this: people need to grow up. I don't suggest an age restriction for the forum, as that would be insane. Age is not a deciding factor in a person's mental maturity. Maybe in their physical maturity.

To be in that forum, they need to have shown maturity in other forums.
EG: You must be in a certain group/team to be allowed in. Once a moderator/admin decides that this person has shown maturity, they can be allowed in.

Thanks for reading my (long) post,
majikstreet

[matthew]

Another idea relating to this: people need to grow up. I don't suggest an age restriction for the forum, as that would be insane. Age is not a deciding factor in a person's mental maturity. Maybe in their physical maturity.

To be in that forum, they need to have shown maturity in other forums.
EG: You must be in a certain group/team to be allowed in. Once a moderator/admin decides that this person has shown maturity, they can be allowed in.
An interesting idea. I don't know that I would wish on the staff here the tedious and controversial task of determining who is and who is not mature enough to have access to a part of the site. If that were to be the case I think we would be better off not having a serious forum.

One part of me is saying this idea, while valid and interesting, sounds like a lot of work for a bunch of volunteers who are probably really busy as it is. I also think that Community Chat is an appropriate location for both silly and serious posting that is otherwise off-topic. We can all read the title bar and decide to participate in a thread or ignore it at will.

The other part of me wonders if you are volunteering to be the policeman for a serious forum...watching and allowing threads to grow with mild to little moderation (just keeping things on topic and not allowing things already forbidden in the code of conduct). I don't have the authority to offer that position, but your suggestion would probably require that at least 3 people commit to oversee the forum you suggest creating and I wouldn't urge nor desire any of our other mods to leave or lessen their responsibilities and the great work they are doing in other forums to do it.

[majikstreet]

An interesting idea. I don't know that I would wish on the staff here the tedious and controversial task of determining who is and who is not mature enough to have access to a part of the site. If that were to be the case I think we would be better off not having a serious forum.

One part of me is saying this idea, while valid and interesting, sounds like a lot of work for a bunch of volunteers who are probably really busy as it is. I also think that Community Chat is an appropriate location for both silly and serious posting that is otherwise off-topic. We can all read the title bar and decide to participate in a thread or ignore it at will.

The other part of me wonders if you are volunteering to be the policeman for a serious forum...watching and allowing threads to grow with mild to little moderation (just keeping things on topic and not allowing things already forbidden in the code of conduct). I don't have the authority to offer that position, but your suggestion would probably require that at least 3 people commit to oversee the forum you suggest creating and I wouldn't urge nor desire any of our other mods to leave or lessen their responsibilities and the great work they are doing in other forums to do it.
I can see what you think.

I wouldn't mind doing something like that.

It's all up to the staff. If they'd rather not have it restricted, go ahead and don't. My only suggestion to that would be to restrict it to people with over 10 posts (not including Community Chat).

I would volunteer my time to "police" that forum if it were wished.


Come to think of it, I would moderate/police anywhere if asked. I believe that I can deal with people well enough to do that :)

[poofyhairguy]

We have thought about that a lot. Lots of internal discussions. It brings up many problems and solves a few as well. Till anything happens, that is basically the role of the forum IRC channel.

[majikstreet]

We have thought about that a lot. Lots of internal discussions. It brings up many problems and solves a few as well. Till anything happens, that is basically the role of the forum IRC channel.
I never knew that..

I guess so :(

[bluck]

My views are simple: make a "Serious" forum. Post a warning at the top.

Let people post these kind of more "serious" threads in there. It's simple.


sounds like a reasonable idea, I just dont know that this is the best venue suited to that purpose. If you want to talk politics, why not visit a site that hosts political forums?

unless of course we're talking the politics surrounding ubuntu itself, of which i am unsure. :)

[majikstreet]

sounds like a reasonable idea, I just dont know that this is the best venue suited to that purpose. If you want to talk politics, why not visit a site that hosts political forums?

unless of course we're talking the politics surrounding ubuntu itself, of which i am unsure. :)
Hmm-- I agree with you, but some people (like me) don't visit other forums. (Sometimes I visit linuxquestions.org, but that's beyond the point)

I can't imagine that politics forums can be very sucessful, unless they have _very_ mature members.

-m

[az]

Open source software is social software. People collaberate. People are interested in each other. A purely tech-support message board is different from a forum.

You can hardly discuss things such as for example, open source software at the workplace without a political discussion ensuing.

It is very hard to draw the line in between what is politics and what is not.

The fact is, Ubuntu is the most popular linux distribution today because it is community-focused. No other distribution gives away free cds to everyone. No other distribution has an open a development process as Ubuntu (other are following suit-open Suse). No other distribution has a community council. No other distribution has a development team who only hold open meetings. Even Debian has a debian-private mailing list. Ubuntu doesn't.

It has been said that you cannot manage a forum within such an open spirit. People point to the Gentoo forums and how some of the topics in the equivalent off-topic forum give their tech support forums a bad reputation. I think that is crap. Just ask anyone here.

It's all about us, the community. You cannot compare the communities around other linux distributions like Gentoo to the Ubuntu community.

[Stormy Eyes]

And, if you want a forum where anything goes and there's little to no moderation, may I suggest The Real OTW (http://forums.realotw.org)? It's not my forum; I just frequent it.

[matthew]

azz made a good point here. It would be nearly impossible to keep the great sense of community we have here and disallow all discussion that is not technical or somehow sanitized. I think the overwealming majority of people here are mature and polite enough to discuss controversy without becoming defensive or aggressive.

[matthew]

And, if you want a forum where anything goes and there's little to no moderation, may I suggest The Real OTW (http://forums.realotw.org)? It's not my forum; I just frequent it.
Thanks, Stormy Eyes. I think that looks like a great place to refer people to when/if things get out of hand. :)

[bluck]

azz made a good point here. It would be nearly impossible to keep the great sense of community we have here and disallow all discussion that is not technical or somehow sanitized. I think the overwealming majority of people here are mature and polite enough to discuss controversy without becoming defensive or aggressive.

definately agree. I guess I took the idea of a "political" forum/thread to the extrme. I dont see how whether one considers themselves a republican/democrat/hippy/anything-else has anything to do with open source software, other than maybe a statistic on the demographics of the user pool.

sounds like i might be alone in this thinking :)

[Stormy Eyes]

Thanks, Stormy Eyes. I think that looks like a great place to refer people to when/if things get out of hand. :)

Just keep in mind that I'm not nearly as well-behaved there as I am here. :evil:

[matthew]

Just keep in mind that I'm not nearly as well-behaved there as I am here. :evil:
Which goes to show that you are capable of discernment and discretion. I'm not the least bit surprised. Gold star for you! :KS

[matthew]

definately agree. I guess I took the idea of a "political" forum/thread to the extrme. I dont see how whether one considers themselves a republican/democrat/hippy/anything-else has anything to do with open source software, other than maybe a statistic on the demographics of the user pool.

sounds like i might be alone in this thinking :)
You are right--it has nothing to do with the software.

It does have something to do with the establishment of community, though. The more we know one another the more we have to adapt ourselves. I don't want to be a part of a monolithic culture. It is easier when we all confine our conversations to matters of agreement, but then I never get exposed to new ideas ad I never grow. Maybe I'm just being selfish in wanting to know what others think because it gives me opportunity to question my own beliefs and maybe give someone else the chance to grow as well.

[majikstreet]

I didn't mean the "Serious" forum to be ONLY for politics.

Thanks to everyone who responded here.

BTW: I am gonna look over the real OTW.

[kleeman]

I can't imagine that politics forums can be very sucessful, unless they have _very_ mature members.

-m

Here's two to check out which function very effectively:

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/blueroom

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/redroom

Notice the red blue separation. Tends to keep things fairly civil