[Wikipedia-l] use of a bot (long)

Tue May 6 16:23:33 UTC 2003

On Tue, 2003-05-06 at 12:59, Erik Moeller wrote:
> Don't get me wrong: developers of PHPBB & Co. are doing a good job -- but  
> for our purposes, email is a much better solution.
> 
The short response to Erik's reference for email over a BBS is
essentially that for a power-user, with the talent, knowledge, and time
to configure and use "good email clients" which make "quoting and
threading transparent and easy to use", email is preferable.

The reality is that is not the case for most people.

The more important reality is that there should not be an additional
barrier to entry in finding and using the discussion forum (currently in
email form) above the barriers to entry to becoming a Wikipedia editor
(which are web access, going to Wikipedia, clicking on "Edit this page"
and possibly creating a user account).

Because the the discussion forum is currently in email form, there are
several additional barriers to entry.

This is bad, and will never be a Good Thing.

Another basic, basic thing: since we're discussing Wikipedia matters, we
really should be able to make links to Wikipedia entries in the
discussion forum. We can't usefully do that with email.

But instead of having the argument about why a BBS would be better than
an Email list, I recommend setting up a BBS, and letting practice
decide.