Off the Wall split

Message

Valen · Post by **Valen** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 10:18 pm

Has the possibility of splitting Off the Wall into two separate forums been raised before? From the recent state of Off the Wall I would really like to have a partition between the non-Gentoo technical posts and the general discussion topics. I find the forums to be a good general technical resource, but recently I've had trouble manually filtering through Off the Wall posts.

Of course, maybe I'm overlooking a compelling reason to keep them together?

Post by **Deathwing00** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 10:30 pm

Off The Wall is there for anything not related to Gentoo. So it is not expected to talk about anything Gentoo-related, technical or not.

Post by **pjp** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 10:32 pm

Valen wrote:Has the possibility of splitting Off the Wall into two separate forums been raised before? From the recent state of Off the Wall I would really like to have a partition between the non-Gentoo technical posts and the general discussion topics.

There was a general linux forum at one time. The decision was made to put everything not related to Gentoo into one forum, as the purpose of this board is to support Gentoo and the Gentoo Community.

Valen · Post by **Valen** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 11:34 pm

Fair enough. I mean it is nice enough to devote some space to general discussion especially given the volume of traffic in Off the Wall. I'll even add that I've never really had any issue with this until recently.

However, if the boards are supporting the same volume of traffic, why not add the extra forum? I don't see any technical or administrative problem there. If the policy is strict then obviously it won't happen, but if there is room for flexibility then consider that the reasons for the original merge might not exist anymore. Of course you admins probably have some extra insight into this.

firephoto · Post by **firephoto** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 5:32 pm

EDIT: Split from Forums are slow as snail in a tarpit. --pjp

This sounds like a great idea.

There was a post the other day about the Gecko/Konqueror thing and it was posted in Desktop, but got moved to OTW because it wasn't "just" specific to Gentoo, which I thought Gentoo Chat was for but it remained in OTW and the views pretty much went from 550+ in 8 hours on a saturday, to it's current 750+ which seems to be lacking just because it's in OTW and I wouldn't look for a post like this in OTW either.

So maybe we can get a General Linux forum or allow Gentoo Chat to have all these linux posts? Some mods leave things in Gentoo Chat, but others move them to OTW it seems. Gentoo Chat seems to be for non-support things that can be about Gentoo, while OTW seems to be for things that can't be about Gentoo according to the index description.

Post by **pjp** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 6:24 pm

firephoto wrote:Gentoo Chat seems to be for non-support things that can be about Gentoo,

that ARE about Gentoo. If it isn't a non-support topic about Gentoo, it doesn't belong.

firephoto wrote:OTW seems to be for things that can't be about Gentoo according to the index description.

OTW can have anything legal, really. We just have Gentoo Chat so that people can talk about Gentoo without wading through the other garbage.

We had a non-Gentoo linux support forum, but it was removed.

firephoto · Post by **firephoto** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 6:40 pm

Ok, so now I know some things I have posted in Gentoo Chat shouldn't have been posted there and instead in OTW since they don't just apply to Gentoo. It just seems like things get lost in OTW and you don't get much constructive input to feelings about things that might apply to Gentoo even though they don't and you see these posts in Gentoo Chat and they don't get moved.

Should more posts in Gentoo Chat be moved to OTW since they don't just apply to Gentoo?

Post by **pjp** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 7:10 pm

firephoto wrote:Should more posts in Gentoo Chat be moved to OTW since they don't just apply to Gentoo?

Probably. Its a matter of identifying them. I move them as I notice them, but don't go looking for them.

firephoto · Post by **firephoto** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 10:50 pm

Can the index decription for OTW be changed? As it is now it somewhat discourges any linux related posts and anyone who takes a peak in there might not know it's the place for little news blurbs and such about linux.

Off the Wall
Want to talk about something not related to Gentoo? Post it here.

This is why I always posted in Gentoo Chat with non-support related linux topics.

Post by **pjp** » Wed Sep 15, 2004 3:16 am

Isn't 'general linux', Red Hat, SuSe, etc. "something not related to Gentoo"?

Also, do you have any suggestions that you think would be more clear?

firephoto · Post by **firephoto** » Wed Sep 15, 2004 4:03 am

Yes, but I'm thinking more on the lines of programs that make up the various Gentoo systems out there. Going back to the gecko/Konqueror topic, it's seems the only thing missing that would have kept it from being moved to OTW was someone asking "how can I do this (with my Gentoo)?" or "maybe we can get an ebuild for this?". To me, Konqueror, Firefox, web browser engines, etc., very much relate to Gentoo, just like any linux program out there really unless it's distro specific obviously but it seems these things aren't suppose to be posted in GC which surprised me. I guess the "wild west" aspect of OTW doesn't appeal to some that just want to talk linux in general and this is how I always thought of it.

If the description for OTW could include something to the effect that if it's about linux in general then it should be here then maybe that would help. As it is now I'm not sure people are realizing this. Either that or be a little more open to things being in Gentoo Chat unless they are about another distro specifically of course. which is what seems to happen anyway except for some things that do get moved to OTW. Just some some inconsistencies here but it's not really a big deal.

Just my thoughts and I'm not complaining either. I guess we can just add Gentoo phrases to keep things out of OTW.

wilburpan · Post by **wilburpan** » Wed Sep 15, 2004 12:59 pm

pjp wrote:Isn't 'general linux', Red Hat, SuSe, etc. "something not related to Gentoo"?

Also, do you have any suggestions that you think would be more clear?

Well, yes, but so are discussions regarding Nazi lesbian amputees.

Besides, a quick scan of OTW on any given day clearly shows that most discussions are not about 'general linux', Red Hat, SuSe, etc.

My suggestions:

1. If you really want to encourage discussion of Linux issues separate from Gentoo itself in OTW, change the OTW description to state that explicitly: "Off The Wall: Want to talk about Linux issues not related to Gentoo? Post it here."

2. Create a new forum for "Other Linux Issues/Distributions" and let the Nazi lesbian amputee discussions stay in OTW.

My feeling is the second is more viable, as OTW has already established itself as the place to go vent one's philisophical spleen. For example, look at the Stormy Eyes vs. The World thread. That thread generated over 250 replies in 24 hours. And it's not like Stormy Eyes was saying anything new about his personal views.

From my standpoint, I have always been prone to posting Linux questions not related to Gentoo in Gentoo Chat, simply because I felt that the typical person scanning through Gentoo Chat would be more likely to be able to answer my question. Also, I feel that by posting my question in OTW it would be much more likely to get lost among all the political/philosophy threads and get missed.

Post by **pjp** » Wed Sep 15, 2004 2:55 pm

Updated Gentoo Chat and OTW descriptions:

Gentoo Chat
For general linux questions, see Off The Wall. Opinions, ideas and thoughts about Gentoo. Anything and everything about Gentoo except support questions.

Off the Wall
Want to talk about Linux issues not related to Gentoo? Or anything else not related to Gentoo? Post it here.

See my earlier post regarding a General Linux forum.

kernja · Post by **kernja** » Wed Nov 10, 2004 9:01 pm

It's about time Off The Wall was split into at least two forums. On the one hand it's full of political discussions (if you want to call 'em that), but most of the time I just want to see general linux, or computer related topics and not have to wade through all these flamefests.

Therefore I propose that we keep Off The Wall but make it devoted only to topics not related to computers, and create another forum for general linux and computer topics. Who's with me?!?

Post by **pjp** » Wed Nov 10, 2004 9:03 pm

Gentoo Forums are for supporting Gentoo. OTW is for topics not related to Gentoo. Its been discussed before.

Slyde · Post by **Slyde** » Wed Nov 10, 2004 9:05 pm

Awhile back, we formed 'the real off the wall', basically as a place to discuss all the garbage and crap we wanted to, without degrading the Gentoo forums.

Feel free to join.

The 'real' Off The Wall.

smonijhay1 · Post by **smonijhay1** » Wed Nov 10, 2004 9:26 pm

kernja wrote:It's about time Off The Wall was split into at least two forums. On the one hand it's full of political discussions (if you want to call 'em that), but most of the time I just want to see general linux, or computer related topics and not have to wade through all these flamefests.

Therefore I propose that we keep Off The Wall but make it devoted only to topics not related to computers, and create another forum for general linux and computer topics. Who's with me?!?

I thought the Gentoo Chat Forum was designed for that? Or is that still gentoo related stuff?

papal_authority · Post by **papal_authority** » Wed Nov 10, 2004 9:30 pm

Slyde wrote:Feel free to join. The 'real' Off The Wall.

Unless you're a Canadian, a European or have left wing political ideals. All others are welcome

Slyde · Post by **Slyde** » Wed Nov 10, 2004 9:31 pm

papal_authority wrote:
Slyde wrote:Feel free to join. The 'real' Off The Wall.
Unless you're a Canadian, a European or have left wing political ideals. All others are welcome

Haha. Whatever. There are more lefties than righties. Plus, the politcs are weeded out from the rest of the forum.

Post by **plate** » Wed Nov 10, 2004 9:46 pm

Moved from Off the Wall.

Post by **pjp** » Wed Nov 10, 2004 11:06 pm

smonijhay1 wrote:I thought the Gentoo Chat Forum was designed for that? Or is that still gentoo related stuff?

As the name implies, Gentoo Chat is for non-support Gentoo related topics. Everything else belongs in OTW.

Post by **codergeek42** » Wed Nov 10, 2004 11:15 pm

plate wrote:Moved from Off the Wall.

I find the irony compelling.

Leafo · Post by **Leafo** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 3:59 am

Due to personal issues - mainly a growing urge to flame certain political postings - I have considered having myself voluntarily banned from OTW.

But this leaves me with the problem that non-Gentoo, but Linux-related topics also goes to OTW and I would like to still be able to both post and (mayhaps) reply to Linux-related subjects.

To me, the logical solution to this issue would be to split OTW up in a non-Linux OTW and a non-Gentoo Linux section.

Does this sound reasonable?

Post by **amne** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 8:00 am

Merged Leafo's post to this thread.

If you're uncomfortable with OTW and decide to avoid it, i really think that's a good decision, congrats on that. Unluckily we won't split OTW into different forums as OTW is for everything that is not Gentoo (ok, we've also got the US forum which is also for non-official-Gentoo stuff). I know it brings a wide spectrum of topics, but OTW just isn't our primary objective here. Maybe you can fine-tune your OTW ban to just avoid threads you dislike instead of the whole forum?

at240 · Post by **at240** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 10:08 am

The one thing that I miss in these excellent forums is a place for general non-Gentoo chitchat about Linux. I know that there is such a place: OTW. But trawling through that forum can be a pretty unedifying experience at times, and one that can contrast greatly with the otherwise extremely professional and courteous tone of this site.

I do realise that this kind of thing has been tried before, and that it has been requested unsuccessfully since it was removed. (http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php? ... 80#1538980) But I'm not asking for a linux support forum; just one for serious discussion, like Gentoo Chat. (Something like: Linux Chat?)

Does anyone else agree? Or are there good reasons not to have such a forum? What are the current opinions of the Admins?

Off the Wall split

Off the Wall split

Re: Off the Wall split

Support v. Discussion fora & Gentoo Chat v. Off The Wall

Off The Wall Needs an overhaul

Re: Off The Wall Needs an overhaul

Re: Off The Wall Needs an overhaul

Could OTW be split up in Linux vs non-Linux topics?

Splitting Linux chat from OTW?