The Future of the Forum

[pantazi]

Say it ain't so!!!

After 25 years with Windows I recently (little over a year) switched to Ubuntu. I would never, ever, have been able to make the switch without the help of this forum. Yes, it can be difficult to find/sort through all the information and I'm never really sure where to post my questions, but it's still a valuable resource for the less technically proficient or those new to Linux.

That being said, I'm not volunteering my time to either answer questions or admin the forum so it's easy for me to say "don't go", but whatever happens I'd like to say thanks to everyone for getting me up and running with Ubuntu!

+1

I read the forums every day and try out numerous suggestions just to improve my use of Ubuntu.

[Jorhel]

Ditto, you guys were my lifeline when I first switched. I had not been back t the forum for a while since I mainly use my computer for home admin and can put up with a few quirks...
I was a bit surprised to see my last post just sat there since it wasn't my previous experience but I understand now.

[Rubi1200]

Perhaps the admins can create a poll that will be visible to users when logging in (as with this thread).

Questions could be along the lines of:
1. how useful are the forums for you
2. would you be willing to volunteer as staff
3. would you continue using this resource if it was moved to something like Discourse

Just some ideas, there may be other more relevant things to ask.

I was thinking if we can gauge the general sentiment of users that would be good to know for now and the future.

[guiverc]

I've responded before, and I'll do so again.

- I've followed this thread, as I suspect a lot of people have, even if they've not actually responded.

- I'm very thankful to Coffeecat for opening this discussion, and the letter to the CC (it has started conversations at the CC level which involves input from the Ubuntu Community Team (Canonical staff)), and I'll thank Galgalesh for mentioning the CC (I didn't)

- I've seen a lot of good input here, so thank you everyone

- I use AskUbuntu, and I use IRC; both of which handle some Ubuntu support as this Forum does, but I'd not want to see this forum die. Ask Ubuntu (AU) requires a rather clearly defined problem (question) and people then offer their solutions (answers). For beginners they may not have a clearly defined problem they can ask there, and coming to a forum such as UF allows for more hand-holding as they work out what they're asking; something the Q&A format doesn't cater for as well. I've always been impressed by the hand-holding support I see here on UF.

- I don't have an issue with discourse; as I stated last time I use it with Lubuntu, Ubuntu-MATE and elsewhere. I see benefits to having everything at the one site (rather than separated like some flavors are currently that I've mentioned), but no one-size-fits-all will suit everyone; so I have no issues with UF, AU & IRC being alternatives. If using discourse works (and I believe it would for a large majority of newer/modern users) I think its a good alternative; but those who admin/moderate have to be involved in the decision, as they'll be doing much of the work.

[mister-gothfvck]

My first account here must have been at least a decade ago. However, that one has gone away for one reason or another and here I am now.

This place, while I may not have visited in a while, has always been a virtual home for me. It's been wonderful helping others with whatever I can. Throughout the years, after becoming more familiar with GNU+Linux, Debian, and Ubuntu itself as well as the various DE's/WM's, I have been able to provide more and more assistance. That has felt good. The Ubuntu Forums have played no small part in learning and troubleshooting. This has been an invaluable source of information.

I suggest, if this version of vBulletin has become obsolete then perhaps we could switch over to phpBB? That's libre software! Is there some way to migrate the DB over? Archive this after the new version is up and running. Maybe we need to nag said distros to modify the installers and links to include the Ubuntu Forums.

I have used as well as ran phpBB. While, I am by no means an expert, I have found it simply delightful. Sure, there will be some major differences but, perhaps some capable people could write some plugins to make things a little more familiar? I'm not sure.I do know that phpBB works well on mobile and has many features. I think it's the best substitute to the current software.

[ian-weisser]

Hi folks,

My suggestion to the Forums Council is a variation of #8: A new Discourse instance could replace UbuntuForums software (not a merge with Ubuntu Discourse).

Ubuntu needs this community: UbuntuForums fills a clear need for welcoming, threaded, conversation-based support. Neither IRC nor AskUbuntu can do that.

It's worth the effort to keep this community going: While UbuntuForums may be smaller than it was, the daily post count still indicates a healthy community.

The general Discourse platform does seem a good fit for many of the features currently on vBulletin, and the price is right. Canonical already operates at least two Discourse instances already. Another instance to replace UF does not seem too ambitious.

Why not merge? Ubuntu Discourse has a different mission than both UbuntuForums and AskUbuntu. The platforms serve different communities. As an Ubuntu Discourse moderator since 2017, my observation is that the user and developer communities have very different cultures of acceptable speech and behavior. Developers don't want to see every fire-and-forget rant, and confused users don't want to put on a tie to get a simple answer to a basic question. Therefore, I recommend that the communities continue to use separate platforms.

That's NOT a criticism of UbuntuForum moderation, which I have found over almost 20 years to be excellent: Fair, firm, and consistent. Don't change it. Frustrated and confused users feel welcome in UF and AU. As a primarily user-facing venue, that's appropriate and the welcoming culture is a great achievement. Ubuntu Discourse is a developer-facing venue, a workplace, and professional behavior is appropriately expected.

In theory, it might be possible to migrate a vBulletin database over to a Discourse instance. Or a static version can be added as a Discourse category, so the previous knowledge is not lost.

Discourse Privacy Concerns have been raised. Those are always important. The information stored ("collected") by a Discourse instance is the same as vBulletin -- Your username, email, and password. A Discourse instance is not a privacy hoover.

There will be a learning curve to any transition, and a maintenance burden. I suggest the Forums Council fire up a test instance and explore it for a month or two to see if it can meet their expectations, and perhaps to test a database migration.

[1fallen2]

I hope they come to their senses, and keep this forum active.
I actually re-created my account just to voice my thoughts here

As for the Current Staff I would love it if they stayed active, but I do also understand, for lack of a better term "burnout" health issues and just Life.

However it ends up, it has been a vital part of newer users finding and learning the Buntu way. I feel it would be a mistake for Canonical to end it.

[aljames2]

There will be a learning curve to any transition, and a maintenance burden. I suggest the Forums Council fire up a test instance and explore it for a month or two to see if it can meet their expectations, and perhaps to test a database migration.

Thanks Ian! I am a fan of this. As long as the community can stay connected, that’s my main thought, and it does appear the Discourse forums that I have been checking out in the last few days do seem useable for our purpose, with some learning curve to adjust the eyes.

I found this article while browsing on my iPhone, if nothing more, it may just demonstrate their is the possibility of grabbing the vBulletin data and making some use of it on a new Discourse.

https://meta.discourse.org/t/migrate-a-vbulletin-4-forum-to-discourse/54881

The links @coffeecat provided were very helpful for my perspective on things. I learned more about the structure of things and where our community fits into the Ubuntu world. I also can see that some of the leadership is among us, contributing in our forum for years, and being a voice further up stream, which is a good thing.

[wildmanne39]

Ian weisser, My suggestion to the Forums Council is a variation of #8: A new Discourse instance could replace UbuntuForums software (not a merge with Ubuntu Discourse).

I +1 this if we have enough help to pull it off, count me in, I am also very pleased with all the support that everyone is showing by posting here for the forum and the polite and constructive manner in which it is being done.

Thank you!

[1fallen2]

I +1 this if we have enough help to pull it off, count me in.

+1