<div>Hi I am kind of new to mailing lists so forgive me if I am steping on anyones toes.</div>
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<div>I am used to working with forums more than mailing lists and find them to be a little easier for newcomers to work with than mailing lists. Is there a plan for a forum? I think that it may not be as important to have a forum now as it will say when the phone is released and there will be a lot more people trying to find more organized data. I have given this just a little thought and some input from more experianced people would be welcome. Here is the layout that I have though could work.
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<div>For the forum you could have the following layout.</div>
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<div>Announcements - would contain things like product releases, firmware upgrades, patches, press releases, and the road map.</div>
<div>Getting Started - would contain things like, what the project is, what you can do to help, how you can get started, forum rules, how you can start developi9ng.</div>
<div>Community - would be the place for the general questions and wish list.</div>
<div> • Phone FAQ - contain FAQ's about the phones apps, Hardware, and future of the phone.</div>
<div> • General Phone Questions - would be a place for users to get trouble shooting answers (probably the most used when phone is released).</div>
<div> • Applications - would contain discussions about apps that come packaged with the phone.</div>
<div> • Wish List - A place where people could post inovative new ideas and approaches to problems to be implimented in future versions of the phones and firmware.</div>
<div>Distribution - Would contain discussions about the distribution aspect of the phone.</div>
<div>Development - This would be the place for developers to get answers and find answers.</div>
<div> • OpenMoko Framework - Would be the place for people working on the framework.</div>
<div> • Applications - This is where App developers can go for help and ideas to get their apps working and looking good.</div>
<div> • Theming/Skinning - This would be a place where people can go to learn how to make the designs hot and how to develop their own Theme for the phone. (Maybe could be moved up a level)</div>
<div> • GSM Architecture - Here users can learn how the gsmd/libgsmd work with the phone and development.</div>
<div> • Third Party Applications - Here third party developers could meet and discuss problems and solutions.</div>
<div> • Linux Kernel - This could be a place for people to find answers about the linux kernel and can contribute to future versions.</div>
<div> • OpenMoko u-boot - Here users can learn how to use the u-boot and find answers to questions.</div>
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<div>Of course more layers can be added and more forums can be added as the need is realized. As far as I can see right now here are what I am seeing about the Pro's and Con's to a forum.</div>
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<div><u>PRO'S</u></div>
<div>- Easier for new comers to get at information they are seeking.</div>
<div>- More organized than mailing lists and meets somewhere in the middle of a mailing list and a wiki..</div>
<div>- A forum is searchable.</div>
<div>- I believe a forum's layout and use are more well known that mailing lists and wiki's.</div>
<div>- It will help grow the comunity and be another resource to the OpenMoko comunity.</div>
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<div><u>CON'S</u></div>
<div>- It will require people to moderate and take care of the Forums.</div>
<div>- It could create overlap with the mailing lists and could spawn some confusion with mailing list users.</div>
<div>- It will need to be created by someone and hosted by someone.</div>
<div>- Planning will be required.</div>
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<div>Of course this could be taken care of by anyone. And the forum could be maintained by experianced volunteers. And maybe down the road through adds and other fund generating methods it could become self sustaining and some of the volunteers could then become compensated. I am sorry if I am way out on a limb here but this was something that I was looking for and was dissapointed when i could not find one. Any input here would be great. Also if there is a forum somewhere and I have not found it I am sorry to have cluttered up the mailing list with this rambling and if you could point me in the right direction I would greatly appreciate it.
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<div>Thanks,</div>
<div>Matt</div>