Should Linux.org be expanded?

[DevynCJohnson]

@Rob Do you think such a change would benefit the site? Should I write an article on some Unix system other than Linux and see how well our readers like it?

 

[Videodrome]

Well..... I'm really new here, but I have a few thoughts on this. I have previously been on a XBox Forum, but they included a Sub-Forum for Other Consoles and PC Gaming. After all, they have some games in common, but they can also discuss differences with the Playstation, Wii, or PCs. Or even how to get consoles to stream stored media on a PC.

I also have a general interest in the potential of other free operating systems. I'm currently exploring a fork of Unix called Plan 9 from Bell Labs.

I think there is one strange negative to including BSD discussion though. I hate to say this or generalize, but I think the BSD crowd has a reputation for being condescending. Just browse the FreeBSD forum. So many replies are dismissive or saying read the Documentation or read the Man Pages. I understand vague questions without background info is frustrating, but going to the other extreme demanding strict rules for posts is stifling for casual discussion.

An Other Operating Systems sub-forum might be fine to test out, but I'm not sure if it's worth it for you guys to rebrand this place or get another domain.

 

[rdizzle]

Since it's all going to be tied to Linux, you can probably skip domain registration. It's better to just build the subdomains. There you can make individual sub-sites.

Examples:

unix.linux.org
bsd.linux.org
solaris.linux.org
...
anynameyouwant.linux.org​

 

[Cyber-Berserker]

True. However, the problem I see in not expanding to include other operating systems is the fact that the number of users and visitors for this site is low. By expanding, more people would come here.

An important factor to consider is whether or not existing members can answer questions. For example; if someone posts a question about shell scripts or file management in FreeBSD, how many members would be knowledgeable enough about BSD to answer it? Having a host of unanswered questions would not attract many new members.

And the previously mentioned preference for quality over quantity, in terms of hits versus guests, is very important.

That being said, a section for non-Linux systems is a good idea. As long as it does not include Windows and Apple.

 

[DevynCJohnson]

An important factor to consider is whether or not existing members can answer questions. For example; if someone posts a question about shell scripts or file management in FreeBSD, how many members would be knowledgeable enough about BSD to answer it? Having a host of unanswered questions would not attract many new members.

And the previously mentioned preference for quality over quantity, in terms of hits versus guests, is very important.

That being said, a section for non-Linux systems is a good idea. As long as it does not include Windows and Apple.

True, some current members may not be able to answer, but if Linux.org were expanded, then people with such answers would be drawn to the site.

 

[Cyber-Berserker]

True, but as someone mentioned earlier (I forget who, sorry), we must not forget the difference in cultures. The BSD crowd are a read the manual before asking culture. Even in the Linux world, there is a difference in attitude between distros. Knowledgeable Debian users for example, are similar to BSD users. "The documentation is there. Read it. If you do not understand it, then ask a question." (I confess that I have that attitude.) While the Ubuntu folks believe every question should be answered, even if it is asked every day. Do that on a Debian forum and one will be told to search the forum before asking that question yet again. So if the desire is to increase the scope of the board, then tolerance for different attitudes would be necessary. After two days, I do not know how tolerant this board is toward "abrasive" personalities, but such tolerance would be necessary.

 

[DevynCJohnson]

True, but as someone mentioned earlier (I forget who, sorry), we must not forget the difference in cultures. The BSD crowd are a read the manual before asking culture. Even in the Linux world, there is a difference in attitude between distros. Knowledgeable Debian users for example, are similar to BSD users. "The documentation is there. Read it. If you do not understand it, then ask a question." (I confess that I have that attitude.) While the Ubuntu folks believe every question should be answered, even if it is asked every day. Do that on a Debian forum and one will be told to search the forum before asking that question yet again. So if the desire is to increase the scope of the board, then tolerance for different attitudes would be necessary. After two days, I do not know how tolerant this board is toward "abrasive" personalities, but such tolerance would be necessary.

True, but this is our forum. If the *BSD community comes, they will eventually adopt our methods. We all know the saying - "When in Rome, do as the Romans do".

 

[lin.and.phi]

Just my 2 cents:

The reason I chose this forum for getting support with diving into Linux was the very beginner-friendly and thoughtful tutorials as well as a helpful and respecting community (though not that big, obviously). If these factors can still be maintained and even expanded to the new boards, I think that would be something I would much appreciate.

 

[lobo]

I'm a FreeBSD user as well as a GNU/Linux user and for what it's worth, I would say no to "expanding"...

Stick to doing one thing and strive to do it well. To me it's plain as day what a site called "linux.org" should be about.

Bear in mind that daemonforums.org which is a very nice general *BSD forums sees very little traffic as it is. LQ's *BSD section is also extremely low traffic (and I mean maximum 5 posts per month or something like that). The official forums or mailing lists are probably more than sufficient for most *BSD users (also consider that the majority of NetBSD and OpenBSD users don't bother with forums anyway).

If you want to allow people to talk about BSD, just have a general technical "off topic" forum and maybe a non-technical "off topic" forum as well. Off topic is usually a place to post chat and rubbish, but it helps retain members in the long term.

 

[Videodrome]

Yeah maybe just an Other Operating Systems sub-forum. Keep it simple.