Phil Hagelberg wrote:
> To be honest I wonder if some cause for misunderstanding isn't
> inherent in the name "ruby-forum" itself. Technically it is a neat
> piece of hackery--it's rather impressive that it can maintain the
> illusion that the mailing list is a forum. Socially there is a huge
> divide, as we've seen.
I think that rather than it being a problem of warnings or naming, it is 
a problem of context. You behave a specific way when using a mailing 
list versus a web forum. If you're in the context of a web forum, it's 
going to be very difficult to behave in a mailing list fashion. Hence 
the unquoted, pithy, and sometimes rude emails we see here on ruby-talk 
that originated from the forum. I stay away from the forum because 
despite knowing that it's a gateway to a mailing list, I still have a 
very strong urge to use it like a forum. Context is a very powerful 
persuader.

The solution? Change the context of the website to look/feel more like a 
mailing list.

-- 
Tom Werner
Helmets to Hardhats
Software Developer
tom / helmetstohardhats.org
www.helmetstohardhats.org