[seul-edu] The planned coalition and the functionality of this mailing list.

[Tony Riikonen <tony@ionstream.fi>]

Teemu told me to take a look at the conversation concerning this
possible coalition on this mailing list.

To be honest, I don't like the fact that a conversation like this is
taking place here. It was really hard for me to get an overall view of
what people think about the coalition and what direction they think it
should take. I couldn't make any conclusions.

The reason is that most posts to this mailing list are more like
conversations on the phone between two people, quoting what the other
one has said. This way people aren't really commenting the topic one by
one, but commenting just what other people have said and voicing their
oppinions based on that.

I do understand that using your e-mail client for discussions takes away
lot of the edge of participating. No logging in, clicking links etc.

This doesn't mean that I think this mailing list is not a good idea, or
lacking much functionality as a whole. The coalition is just too big a
topic to be discussed in this kind of environment!

I strongly advice you to take this conversation somewhere else. An
advanced Forum (BBS) system would fit the needs of this particular
conversation a lot better:

- All posts would be visible on one page, taking part in a conversation,
where you can easily see all the posts and quote them, is easier and
eliminates duplicating ideas too much.
- Formatting would be more advanced and would work for the posters in a
good way
- Different areas of the coalition could be split into functional
groups, all with their own forums
- These dirrerent areas would be governed by a group of administrators
that would also be the leaders of this project. This way topics wouldn't
stray too far off course

Of course I would love the fact that this conversation would take place
in groups in our public MimerDesk. 
Even objectively I think our environment would be very useful to the
group planning and actually creating things according to the decisions
of the coalition.
Groups in MimerDesk can have the following shared tools:
- Calendar
- Links
- Forums
- Files
- Reviews
- Polls
You can also "monitor forums" in MD. This means that you get every post
in the forums that you are monitoring in your e-mail inbox.

This is definitely not shameless promotion and I'm not saying that our
environment is the best way to go. I'm asking you to have an honest look
at the capabilities of our environment and compare them to the needs of
the coalition at this phaze of the process. This is no time to be
stubborn and stick to old and more familiar ways of doing things.

Even if you decide to go with another environment for the planning and
development of this coalition I will do everything I can to help make
the most of this great coalition idea! If instead you stick with this
mailing list, I don't know how eager I will be to help OR how far you
can actually get. This is a limiting factor =(

-- 
Tony Riikonen
www.mimerdesk.org