OT-ish - is there a very active, useful linux/unix ng?

There are dozens and dozens of linux NG's - hard to figure which is
useful/real. Or has everything gone to web forums?

--
"A person with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds."
-Samuel Clemens.

* Alan Browne (2012-05-09):
>
> There are dozens and dozens of linux NG's - hard to figure which is
> useful/real. Or has everything gone to web forums?

Have you considered a mail-to-news gateway? news.albasani.net, for
example, offers one for many mailing lists, e.g.
'debian-' is acccessible as 'linux.debian.user'.
There's a lag when you post something, due to the mailing list's own
moderation process, but I don't mind and am a happy user.

-André

--
L'art d'ennuyer est de tout dire. [Voltaire]

On 2012-05-09 01:02 , André Berger wrote:
> * Alan Browne (2012-05-09):
>>
>> There are dozens and dozens of linux NG's - hard to figure which is
>> useful/real. Or has everything gone to web forums?
>
> Have you considered a mail-to-news gateway? news.albasani.net, for
> example, offers one for many mailing lists, e.g.
> 'debian-' is acccessible as 'linux.debian.user'.
> There's a lag when you post something, due to the mailing list's own
> moderation process, but I don't mind and am a happy user.

I was a member of several mail lists in the past. When they
'splintered' it got out of hand. Real mess. With usenet you can sort
through the crap quickly.

The reason I'm curious about this is that I want to order a Raspberry Pi
board (when they become truly available - can't even get on a wait list
at present).


--
"A person with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds."
-Samuel Clemens.

On 05/08/2012 06:05 PM, Alan Browne wrote:
>
> There are dozens and dozens of linux NG's - hard to figure which is
> useful/real.

I follow alt.os.linux.ubuntu and alt.os.linux.mint.

The Ubuntu ng is very active, actually too much so as it is heavily
congested with Wintrolls, Linux fanboi flamers, and some *very* abusive
nymshifting malcontent(s). There are some very knowledgeable people
there too, but signal to noise is a major issue. Post at your own peril.

The Mint group has less traffic and less abusive regulars, but there
have been times when tumbleweeds start blowing through as it resembles a
ghost town in its less active periods. But many of the people there are
helpful and also post on the Ubuntu group.

I tried finding an active English language Fedora usenet group in the
past, but to no avail.

There are possibly more general interest Linux groups, but I'm not
familiar with them. Steer clear of the advocacy groups. Some of that
poison and vitriol manages to spill over into the Ubuntu group from time
to time. It ain't pretty.

> Or has everything gone to web forums?

Web forums are probably where you will find nicer and more helpful
people. Activity level probably depends on how popular your distro of
choice is. The Ubuntu forums are usually active and resourceful. It's
been a while since I messed with Fedora, but you could probably find a
lot of activity on their web forums too.


--
*Hemidactylus*

On 2012-05-10 18:44 , *Hemidactylus* wrote:
> On 05/08/2012 06:05 PM, Alan Browne wrote:
>>
>> There are dozens and dozens of linux NG's - hard to figure which is
>> useful/real.
>
> I follow alt.os.linux.ubuntu and alt.os.linux.mint.
>
> The Ubuntu ng is very active, actually too much so as it is heavily
> congested with Wintrolls, Linux fanboi flamers, and some *very* abusive
> nymshifting malcontent(s). There are some very knowledgeable people
> there too, but signal to noise is a major issue. Post at your own peril.
>
> The Mint group has less traffic and less abusive regulars, but there
> have been times when tumbleweeds start blowing through as it resembles a
> ghost town in its less active periods. But many of the people there are
> helpful and also post on the Ubuntu group.
>
> I tried finding an active English language Fedora usenet group in the
> past, but to no avail.
>
> There are possibly more general interest Linux groups, but I'm not
> familiar with them. Steer clear of the advocacy groups. Some of that
> poison and vitriol manages to spill over into the Ubuntu group from time
> to time. It ain't pretty.
>
>> Or has everything gone to web forums?
>
> Web forums are probably where you will find nicer and more helpful
> people. Activity level probably depends on how popular your distro of
> choice is. The Ubuntu forums are usually active and resourceful. It's
> been a while since I messed with Fedora, but you could probably find a
> lot of activity on their web forums too.

Thanks. I'll probably re-up with one of the Linux web forums (incl.
RaspPi - but it hasn't gone critical yet).

I'm not much of a Linux fan, but the Raspberry Pi has at least two
formal Linux releases for it, so it's a good spot to start.

--
"A person with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds."
-Samuel Clemens.

On 2012-05-12 03:49 , André Berger wrote:
> * Alan Browne (2012-05-09):
>> On 2012-05-09 01:02 , André Berger wrote:
>>> * Alan Browne (2012-05-09):
>>>>
>>>> There are dozens and dozens of linux NG's - hard to figure which is
>>>> useful/real. Or has everything gone to web forums?
>>>
>>> Have you considered a mail-to-news gateway?
>
> [...]
>
>> I was a member of several mail lists in the past. When they
>> 'splintered' it got out of hand. Real mess. With usenet you can
>> sort through the crap quickly.
>
> I know what you mean. Try it

Thanks, but I won't be doing anything that involves e-mail.

>
>> The reason I'm curious about this is that I want to order a Raspberry
>> Pi board (when they become truly available - can't even get on a wait
>> list at present).
>
> debian-user is a very friendly and competent list. Besides, Debian's
> dpkg/apt is the best thing since sliced bread.




--
"A person with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds."
-Samuel Clemens.

* Alan Browne (2012-05-12):
> On 2012-05-12 03:49 , André Berger wrote:
> >* Alan Browne (2012-05-09):
> >>On 2012-05-09 01:02 , André Berger wrote:
> >>>* Alan Browne (2012-05-09):
> >>>>
> >>>>There are dozens and dozens of linux NG's - hard to figure which is
> >>>>useful/real. Or has everything gone to web forums?
> >>>
> >>>Have you considered a mail-to-news gateway?
[...]
> Thanks, but I won't be doing anything that involves e-mail.

You got that wrong! You read and post to a (pseudo-) usenet group with
the newsreader of your choice. The conversion is done by the server,
and totally transparant to you.

Sometimes people using the usenet interface cause mild irritations to
the good folks on debian-user by talking about the 'newsgroup', which
is in fact an interface to their mailing list.

-André

--
L'art d'ennuyer est de tout dire. [Voltaire]

On 2012-05-12 16:12 , André Berger wrote:
> * Alan Browne (2012-05-12):
>> On 2012-05-12 03:49 , André Berger wrote:
>>> * Alan Browne (2012-05-09):
>>>> On 2012-05-09 01:02 , André Berger wrote:
>>>>> * Alan Browne (2012-05-09):
>>>>>>
>>>>>> There are dozens and dozens of linux NG's - hard to figure which is
>>>>>> useful/real. Or has everything gone to web forums?
>>>>>
>>>>> Have you considered a mail-to-news gateway?
> [...]
>> Thanks, but I won't be doing anything that involves e-mail.
>
> You got that wrong! You read and post to a (pseudo-) usenet group with
> the newsreader of your choice. The conversion is done by the server,
> and totally transparant to you.
>
> Sometimes people using the usenet interface cause mild irritations to
> the good folks on debian-user by talking about the 'newsgroup', which
> is in fact an interface to their mailing list.

Sorry if I misunderstood. I'll check it out.


--
"A person with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds."
-Samuel Clemens.