Re: [gentoo-dev] PR Project Activity Issues

[Nathan Zachary <kalos@gentoo.org>]

Man Shankar wrote:
> On 23:51 Mon 26 Jan     , Alec Warner wrote:
> ---- [snipped] ----
>  
>   
>> A long time ago I suggested some sort of pr-onduty role where
>> basically for a set period you are the prime pr contact and if someone
>> has news it is your job to review and post it or reject it.  This was
>> never implemented; but may be a good idea if we are limited by commit
>> access.  One of the main problems with posting to an alias is that you
>> can always not reply and it will become someone else's problem(TM)
>> until no one replies and the message is ignored.
>>     
> +1
> Recently, i had started a thread here on -dev regarding the newsletter.
> I was asked to post to gmn-feedback. Sorry, haven't heard from them as
> yet. I wonder a pr-onduty may have worked!
>
>   
>> I for one almost never read pr@ because it is mostly spam and it is
>> difficult to locate useful requests from crap.  It may be useful to
>> tag important items with NEWS ITEM or UPDATE or something.
>>
>> If GuideXML makes it hard to post we can perhaps develop a technical solution.
>>
>> If there is not enough content I'm sure we can brainstorm ideas on
>> what we could do (index2 covers this area pretty well IMHO).
>>     
>
> I doubt lack of content to be the real issue. As the OP mentions, if such a
> problem exists why not ask for help from the community in a more direct way.
> Maybe, something like the monthly reminders we get for the council-meeting.
> To back up the fact that lack of content should be a non-issue is the
> following excerpt from the thread i mentioned:
>
>         Nathan Zachary <kalos@gentoo.org> wrote:
>                 I would be happy to help out with the newsletter, especially 
>                 with the "one article."
>
> So, see, people are willing to help with the content. Their prowess needs
> to be utilized and channeled, i guess.
>   
>> But mostly I want to address concrete problems.
>>
>> -Alec
>>
>>     
>
>   
The more I look at the discussion lists, the less I want to contribute.
I understand that correcting someone for posting to the wrong list is
expected, but the way that it is done is equally as important. For
instance, saying "Firstly, it's wonderful that you'd like to help with
project X. You might get a better response if you offer a submission to
such and such list instead." is radically more beneficial than "Wrong
list; check the website before cluttering the discussion lists."

I joined the forum staff because I had not witnessed that type of
superiority there. Rather, I had seen a willingness for users and
developers to help each other out with questions, comments, or concerns.
I'm hoping that this trend doesn't continue.

Regarding the original topic, I think a reminder on the forum and on the
mailing lists would be great for the newsletter. At my place of
employment, there is an email sent out to everyone saying something
along the lines of "don't forget to submit your ideas for the January
newsletter," and so on. If such a reminder is sent out a few days
beforehand, there might be a better response to submission requests.

--Zach