From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: Emanuel Berg Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.help Subject: Re: emacs stackexchange beta site Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 23:03:05 +0200 Organization: Aioe.org NNTP Server Message-ID: <87a95wy73q.fsf@debian.uxu> References: <874mw5q15w.fsf@debian.uxu> NNTP-Posting-Host: plane.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain X-Trace: ger.gmane.org 1411074332 21590 80.91.229.3 (18 Sep 2014 21:05:32 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@ger.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 21:05:32 +0000 (UTC) To: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org Original-X-From: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Thu Sep 18 23:05:21 2014 Return-path: Envelope-to: geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([208.118.235.17]) by plane.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1XUitF-0000Zl-4T for geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Thu, 18 Sep 2014 23:05:21 +0200 Original-Received: from localhost ([::1]:53682 helo=lists.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1XUitE-0007KB-ED for geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Thu, 18 Sep 2014 17:05:20 -0400 Original-Path: usenet.stanford.edu!news.tele.dk!news.tele.dk!small.news.tele.dk!newsfeed.xs4all.nl!newsfeed4.news.xs4all.nl!xs4all!news.stack.nl!aioe.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail Original-Newsgroups: gnu.emacs.help Original-Lines: 65 Original-NNTP-Posting-Host: P0uMB9BthHuWo8+BJXB4Mw.user.speranza.aioe.org Original-X-Complaints-To: abuse@aioe.org User-Agent: Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Emacs/24.3 (gnu/linux) X-Notice: Filtered by postfilter v. 0.8.2 Cancel-Lock: sha1:XdmKz9dU9v2U8LfyUMAcVPgOpRI= Mail-Copies-To: never Original-Xref: usenet.stanford.edu gnu.emacs.help:207739 X-BeenThere: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.14 Precedence: list List-Id: Users list for the GNU Emacs text editor List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Original-Sender: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.emacs.help:100012 Archived-At: Drew Adams writes: > How would adding a third, "Emacs", site improve > things for anyone? Just one more site to check for > Emacs Q & A. I looked at the proposal for the new > site, and at the "discussion" of it, but I haven't > seen any good arguments in support of it, so far. Well, no one is forcing anyone to use it, if it were to happen, of course. You wouldn't have to use the tags at the other sites though preferably those would remain, with a reference to the new site. On the Emacs site, tags would instead be Gnus, emacs-w3m, Elisp, message-mode, and other familiar topics. I already said I don't like those sites, and why, but I definitely see the advantages. It is PR for the editor. It is a place to gather lots of Emacs-specific information. And Emacs is such a big software system that it can easily fill such a site with interesting contents. Again, as for PR, the SX has a good, eh, "reputation" among Googlers. Often, after Googling a specific problem, the SX answers are the very first to show up. Compare this to Googling for Emacs questions - or even worse, Elisp - which can bea dread. Either you get very long texts in manuals or "extended discussion" (in the lingo of the SX people) on mailing lists and newsgroups (like this). Of course, I am in favor of lengthy manuals as well as extended discussion, only those are better suited when you travel by train - and, as for the discussions, when you yourself take part in them or follow them message by message and don't get 20-30 posts in one chunk to digest. The SX are very suited for the Google quick fix age - we may or may not like that age, but even I who dislike both Googling and those SX in principle cannot deny that often (especially error messages) are very suited to Google, and often it is one of the SX sites that instantly provide you with an answer. And, if this age is here and now, Emacs should be in that world and at that time, at least in all the 50/50 cases. It is just a site. It is not like why turn Emacs into a Facebook farming game or turn it into a twitter client. Besides, we can encourage the people who will do the Emacs SX site (who?) to include links to the FSF, to the Emacs and Elisp and Gnus manuals, to this list/newsgroup, etc. etc. It is all interconnected infrastructure. Contrary to what some people believe, building roads (so that people won't have to queue in the city core) will *increase* overall traffic, not decrease it. And traffic - in this case - we want. -- underground experts united