Thread

  1. List traffic

    Simon Riggs <simon@2ndquadrant.com> — 2010-05-09T20:42:47Z

    Traffic on the PostgreSQL lists is very high now and I freely admit that
    reading every email is simply not possible for me, even the ones that
    mention topics that keyword searches tell me are of potential interest.
    
    If anybody knows of a bug or suspected bug in my code, I have no problem
    in being copied in on mails so that I can see the issues exist. I do not
    promise to respond to every mail I'm copied on, though, but it at least
    helps me manage the fire hydrant.
    
    Thanks!
    
    -- 
     Simon Riggs           www.2ndQuadrant.com
    
    
    
  2. Re: List traffic

    Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us> — 2010-05-11T13:50:04Z

    Simon Riggs wrote:
    > 
    > Traffic on the PostgreSQL lists is very high now and I freely admit that
    > reading every email is simply not possible for me, even the ones that
    > mention topics that keyword searches tell me are of potential interest.
    > 
    > If anybody knows of a bug or suspected bug in my code, I have no problem
    > in being copied in on mails so that I can see the issues exist. I do not
    > promise to respond to every mail I'm copied on, though, but it at least
    > helps me manage the fire hydrant.
    
    [ email only to hackers;  admin and general email lists removed ]
    
    I completely understand the problem of keeping up with the email lists.
    Because you are a committer, I hope you will be able to monitor
    post-commit feedback for patches you apply.  Other than that, I can
    collect bug reports related to your work and ask you to review a web
    page occasionally.  However, it is hard to do this during beta because
    the bugs usually need to be addressed quickly.
    
    -- 
      Bruce Momjian  <bruce@momjian.us>        http://momjian.us
      EnterpriseDB                             http://enterprisedb.com
    
    
  3. Re: List traffic

    Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> — 2010-05-11T13:58:34Z

    On Tue, 11 May 2010, Bruce Momjian wrote:
    
    > Simon Riggs wrote:
    >>
    >> Traffic on the PostgreSQL lists is very high now and I freely admit that
    >> reading every email is simply not possible for me, even the ones that
    >> mention topics that keyword searches tell me are of potential interest.
    >>
    >> If anybody knows of a bug or suspected bug in my code, I have no problem
    >> in being copied in on mails so that I can see the issues exist. I do not
    >> promise to respond to every mail I'm copied on, though, but it at least
    >> helps me manage the fire hydrant.
    >
    > [ email only to hackers;  admin and general email lists removed ]
    >
    > I completely understand the problem of keeping up with the email lists.
    > Because you are a committer, I hope you will be able to monitor
    > post-commit feedback for patches you apply.  Other than that, I can
    > collect bug reports related to your work and ask you to review a web
    > page occasionally.  However, it is hard to do this during beta because
    > the bugs usually need to be addressed quickly.
    
    If list traffic, especially on -hackers, is getting so large, should we 
    look at maybe splitting it?  I could easily enough split things such that 
    I duplicate the subscriber list, so nobody would have to subscribe, but it 
    would make it easier for ppl to filter their incoming ... ?
    
    Not sure where the split would be, mind you ... almost thinking about 
    patch review / discussions vs hashing out new features or something like 
    that ...
    
    Just a thought ...
    
      ----
    Marc G. Fournier                        Hub.Org Hosting Solutions S.A.
    scrappy@hub.org                                     http://www.hub.org
    
    Yahoo:yscrappy    Skype: hub.org    ICQ:7615664    MSN:scrappy@hub.org
    
    
  4. Re: List traffic

    Magnus Hagander <magnus@hagander.net> — 2010-05-11T14:06:36Z

    On Tue, May 11, 2010 at 3:58 PM, Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> wrote:
    > On Tue, 11 May 2010, Bruce Momjian wrote:
    >
    >> Simon Riggs wrote:
    >>>
    >>> Traffic on the PostgreSQL lists is very high now and I freely admit that
    >>> reading every email is simply not possible for me, even the ones that
    >>> mention topics that keyword searches tell me are of potential interest.
    >>>
    >>> If anybody knows of a bug or suspected bug in my code, I have no problem
    >>> in being copied in on mails so that I can see the issues exist. I do not
    >>> promise to respond to every mail I'm copied on, though, but it at least
    >>> helps me manage the fire hydrant.
    >>
    >> [ email only to hackers;  admin and general email lists removed ]
    >>
    >> I completely understand the problem of keeping up with the email lists.
    >> Because you are a committer, I hope you will be able to monitor
    >> post-commit feedback for patches you apply.  Other than that, I can
    >> collect bug reports related to your work and ask you to review a web
    >> page occasionally.  However, it is hard to do this during beta because
    >> the bugs usually need to be addressed quickly.
    >
    > If list traffic, especially on -hackers, is getting so large, should we look at maybe splitting it?  I could easily enough split things such that I duplicate the subscriber list, so nobody would have to subscribe, but it would make it easier for ppl to filter their incoming ... ?
    
    Can we *PLEASE* not go down that route again?
    
    We already have way too many lists. Making more of them will just make
    things more annoying, because people will just end up crossposting
    everywhere so people don't miss it.
    
    There are good client-side (or cloud-side) tools to handle priorities,
    etc, that works much better.
    
    
    > Not sure where the split would be, mind you ... almost thinking about patch review / discussions vs hashing out new features or something like that ...
    
    We just *discontinued* -patches.
    
    -- 
     Magnus Hagander
     Me: http://www.hagander.net/
     Work: http://www.redpill-linpro.com/
    
    
  5. Re: List traffic

    Simon Riggs <simon@2ndquadrant.com> — 2010-05-11T14:10:05Z

    On Tue, 2010-05-11 at 09:50 -0400, Bruce Momjian wrote:
    > Simon Riggs wrote:
    > > 
    > > Traffic on the PostgreSQL lists is very high now and I freely admit that
    > > reading every email is simply not possible for me, even the ones that
    > > mention topics that keyword searches tell me are of potential interest.
    > > 
    > > If anybody knows of a bug or suspected bug in my code, I have no problem
    > > in being copied in on mails so that I can see the issues exist. I do not
    > > promise to respond to every mail I'm copied on, though, but it at least
    > > helps me manage the fire hydrant.
    > 
    > [ email only to hackers;  admin and general email lists removed ]
    > 
    > I completely understand the problem of keeping up with the email lists.
    > Because you are a committer, I hope you will be able to monitor
    > post-commit feedback for patches you apply.  Other than that, I can
    > collect bug reports related to your work and ask you to review a web
    > page occasionally.  However, it is hard to do this during beta because
    > the bugs usually need to be addressed quickly.
    
    Thanks. I have already been keeping a public known bugs/issues list for
    more than a year. I do monitor for post-commit feedback, though reading
    all emails isn't always possible when I'm working on resolving current
    bugs.
    
    -- 
     Simon Riggs           www.2ndQuadrant.com
    
    
    
  6. Re: List traffic

    Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us> — 2010-05-11T14:23:18Z

    Simon Riggs wrote:
    > On Tue, 2010-05-11 at 09:50 -0400, Bruce Momjian wrote:
    > > Simon Riggs wrote:
    > > > 
    > > > Traffic on the PostgreSQL lists is very high now and I freely admit that
    > > > reading every email is simply not possible for me, even the ones that
    > > > mention topics that keyword searches tell me are of potential interest.
    > > > 
    > > > If anybody knows of a bug or suspected bug in my code, I have no problem
    > > > in being copied in on mails so that I can see the issues exist. I do not
    > > > promise to respond to every mail I'm copied on, though, but it at least
    > > > helps me manage the fire hydrant.
    > > 
    > > [ email only to hackers;  admin and general email lists removed ]
    > > 
    > > I completely understand the problem of keeping up with the email lists.
    > > Because you are a committer, I hope you will be able to monitor
    > > post-commit feedback for patches you apply.  Other than that, I can
    > > collect bug reports related to your work and ask you to review a web
    > > page occasionally.  However, it is hard to do this during beta because
    > > the bugs usually need to be addressed quickly.
    > 
    > Thanks. I have already been keeping a public known bugs/issues list for
    > more than a year. I do monitor for post-commit feedback, though reading
    > all emails isn't always possible when I'm working on resolving current
    > bugs.
    
    Sure.  You did a huge job of getting HS done and I will try to help
    where I can, and I know you have a business to run
    (http://www.2ndquadrant.com/).
     
    -- 
      Bruce Momjian  <bruce@momjian.us>        http://momjian.us
      EnterpriseDB                             http://enterprisedb.com
    
    
  7. Re: List traffic

    Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us> — 2010-05-11T14:41:46Z

    Magnus Hagander <magnus@hagander.net> writes:
    > On Tue, May 11, 2010 at 3:58 PM, Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> wrote:
    >> Not sure where the split would be, mind you ... almost thinking about patch review / discussions vs hashing out new features or something like that ...
    
    > We just *discontinued* -patches.
    
    Yeah, it's not time to reverse that decision.
    
    			regards, tom lane
    
    
  8. Re: List traffic

    Simon Riggs <simon@2ndquadrant.com> — 2010-05-11T14:59:32Z

    On Tue, 2010-05-11 at 10:23 -0400, Bruce Momjian wrote:
    
    > Sure.  You did a huge job of getting HS done and I will try to help
    > where I can, and I know you have a business to run
    > (http://www.2ndquadrant.com/).
    
    2ndQuadrant is in the end the main and final reason Hot Standby exists
    and has now funded more than two-thirds of project costs, though the
    support of many others is very much appreciated. Luckily the business is
    successful and there are marketing and administration people to handle
    commercial matters now, while the team is working on open source
    projects and advocacy. As a privately held company it's easier to
    control our own destiny. Offering 24/7 support helps fund more time on
    open source development projects from all members of the now much
    expanded tech team. 
     
    -- 
     Simon Riggs           www.2ndQuadrant.com
    
    
    
  9. Re: List traffic

    Alvaro Herrera <alvherre@alvh.no-ip.org> — 2010-05-11T17:24:30Z

    Excerpts from Marc G. Fournier's message of mar may 11 09:58:34 -0400 2010:
    
    > If list traffic, especially on -hackers, is getting so large, should we 
    > look at maybe splitting it?  I could easily enough split things such that 
    > I duplicate the subscriber list, so nobody would have to subscribe, but it 
    > would make it easier for ppl to filter their incoming ... ?
    
    Maybe we could create a separate list where people would send patches,
    and keep patchless discussion on -hackers?
    
    Just a thought ;-)
    -- 
    
    
  10. Re: List traffic

    Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> — 2010-05-11T17:32:45Z

    On Tue, 11 May 2010, Alvaro Herrera wrote:
    
    > Excerpts from Marc G. Fournier's message of mar may 11 09:58:34 -0400 2010:
    >
    >> If list traffic, especially on -hackers, is getting so large, should we
    >> look at maybe splitting it?  I could easily enough split things such that
    >> I duplicate the subscriber list, so nobody would have to subscribe, but it
    >> would make it easier for ppl to filter their incoming ... ?
    >
    > Maybe we could create a separate list where people would send patches,
    > and keep patchless discussion on -hackers?
    >
    > Just a thought ;-)
    
    The thing is, it seems to me, especially now that we have such strong 
    commit fests, that we should have a seperate form for 'design phase' then 
    for 'reivew discusions' ... *shrug*
    
    There may be some that are interested in what is being implemented, but 
    don't really care about how it was implemented ...
    
    ----
    Marc G. Fournier                        Hub.Org Hosting Solutions S.A.
    scrappy@hub.org                                     http://www.hub.org
    
    Yahoo:yscrappy    Skype: hub.org    ICQ:7615664    MSN:scrappy@hub.org
    
    
  11. Re: List traffic

    Robert Haas <robertmhaas@gmail.com> — 2010-05-12T16:24:22Z

    On Tue, May 11, 2010 at 1:32 PM, Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> wrote:
    > On Tue, 11 May 2010, Alvaro Herrera wrote:
    >
    >> Excerpts from Marc G. Fournier's message of mar may 11 09:58:34 -0400
    >> 2010:
    >>
    >>> If list traffic, especially on -hackers, is getting so large, should we
    >>> look at maybe splitting it?  I could easily enough split things such that
    >>> I duplicate the subscriber list, so nobody would have to subscribe, but
    >>> it
    >>> would make it easier for ppl to filter their incoming ... ?
    >>
    >> Maybe we could create a separate list where people would send patches,
    >> and keep patchless discussion on -hackers?
    >>
    >> Just a thought ;-)
    >
    > The thing is, it seems to me, especially now that we have such strong commit
    > fests, that we should have a seperate form for 'design phase' then for
    > 'reivew discusions' ... *shrug*
    >
    > There may be some that are interested in what is being implemented, but
    > don't really care about how it was implemented ...
    
    The difference between discussing a patch and discussing an idea that
    might lead to a patch is fairly fine.  Exactly how far people go with
    the design discussion before reducing it to code varies from person to
    person and project to project.  I think the way to satisfy the people
    who want to know what but not how is through vehicles like PWN and
    blog postings.
    
    -- 
    Robert Haas
    EnterpriseDB: http://www.enterprisedb.com
    The Enterprise Postgres Company
    
    
  12. Re: List traffic

    Greg Stark <gsstark@mit.edu> — 2010-05-12T22:43:56Z

    On Wed, May 12, 2010 at 5:24 PM, Robert Haas <robertmhaas@gmail.com> wrote:
    > The difference between discussing a patch and discussing an idea that
    > might lead to a patch is fairly fine.
    
    And importantly -- who would be able to subscribe to one and not the
    other? If you have to subscribe to both to get make any sense of
    things then there's no point.
    
    Fwiw I'm having trouble keeping up these days too. And I'm quite
    accustomed to very heavy traffic email. I've been throwing all
    postgres related lists into one folder and skimmed through it looking
    for important threads. However this has now broken down. There are
    about 45 new threads every day. I've been travelling for a bit and am
    now 1,500 threads behind...
    
    If we can find a way to split the content sensibly so I could stop
    reading some of it that would be helpful. But cutting splitting it
    along subject matter where both sets of subject matter need to be seen
    by the same people doesn't really help.
    
    I'm thinking I'll move -general (and the useless -novice) to another
    folder. But I'm left wondering what to do with -admin and
    -performance. They're a random mix of user content and developer
    content. I'll probably move them along with -general but that means I
    won't be likely to see any development discussion on them in the
    future.
    
    
    
    
    -- 
    greg
    
    
  13. Re: List traffic

    Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> — 2010-05-13T00:04:42Z

    On Wed, 12 May 2010, Greg Stark wrote:
    
    > I'm thinking I'll move -general (and the useless -novice) to another 
    > folder. But I'm left wondering what to do with -admin and -performance. 
    > They're a random mix of user content and developer content. I'll 
    > probably move them along with -general but that means I won't be likely 
    > to see any development discussion on them in the future
    
    There shouldn't be any dev discussions on them as it is ... that isn't 
    their mandate ... those are/were meant to be end-user lists, not 
    developer ones ...
    
    ----
    Marc G. Fournier                        Hub.Org Hosting Solutions S.A.
    scrappy@hub.org                                     http://www.hub.org
    
    Yahoo:yscrappy    Skype: hub.org    ICQ:7615664    MSN:scrappy@hub.org
    
    
  14. Re: List traffic

    Magnus Hagander <magnus@hagander.net> — 2010-05-13T10:18:19Z

    On Thu, May 13, 2010 at 2:04 AM, Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> wrote:
    > On Wed, 12 May 2010, Greg Stark wrote:
    >
    >> I'm thinking I'll move -general (and the useless -novice) to another folder. But I'm left wondering what to do with -admin and -performance. They're a random mix of user content and developer content. I'll probably move them along with -general but that means I won't be likely to see any development discussion on them in the future
    >
    > There shouldn't be any dev discussions on them as it is ... that isn't their mandate ... those are/were meant to be end-user lists, not developer ones ...
    
    We know from experience that doesn't work. People just end up
    crossposting, because they're not sure people are on both lists. And
    then you want to move a discussion, which just means you have to CC in
    both lists, leading to even more duplication.
    
    If there was a clear distinction between end-user and dev it might
    make sense. That how commercial software companies tend to work -
    don't let devs talk to end users. That's not how we work. Forcing
    people to look in different places just throws hurdles in front of
    those trying to help out.
    
    
    -- 
     Magnus Hagander
     Me: http://www.hagander.net/
     Work: http://www.redpill-linpro.com/
    
    
  15. Re: List traffic

    damien clochard <damien@dalibo.info> — 2010-05-13T13:00:34Z

    Le 11/05/2010 19:24, Alvaro Herrera a écrit :
    > Excerpts from Marc G. Fournier's message of mar may 11 09:58:34 -0400 2010:
    > 
    >> If list traffic, especially on -hackers, is getting so large, should we 
    >> look at maybe splitting it?  I could easily enough split things such that 
    >> I duplicate the subscriber list, so nobody would have to subscribe, but it 
    >> would make it easier for ppl to filter their incoming ... ?
    > 
    > Maybe we could create a separate list where people would send patches,
    > and keep patchless discussion on -hackers?
    > 
    > Just a thought ;-)
    
    Here's a simple description of how i use and see the -hackers list. I'm
    what you could call a "silent reader", like many other subscribers i
    don't participate to the discussions but i'm happy to be able to follow
    them. I'm not an end-user and i'm not a developper. Just a guy that
    wants to follow the "making-of" this project.
    
    Sure the traffic is huge and sometimes i have thousands of unread
    messages. But somewhat i managed to follow the threads i'm interested in
    and leave asides others...
    
    If this list is split in two smaller ones, then i guess i'll follow both
    and it won't help me in any way. I guess it would even make things more
    difficult to understand.
    
    This is my modest experience. Clearly things can be improved, but
    speaking for myself i don't think that splitting the list is a good idea.
    
    
    --
    damien clochard
    http://www.dalibo.com
    
    
    
    
    
  16. Re: List traffic

    Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> — 2010-05-13T13:27:56Z

    On Thu, 13 May 2010, Magnus Hagander wrote:
    
    > On Thu, May 13, 2010 at 2:04 AM, Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> wrote:
    >> On Wed, 12 May 2010, Greg Stark wrote:
    >>
    >>> I'm thinking I'll move -general (and the useless -novice) to another folder. But I'm left wondering what to do with -admin and -performance. They're a random mix of user content and developer content. I'll probably move them along with -general but that means I won't be likely to see any development discussion on them in the future
    >>
    >> There shouldn't be any dev discussions on them as it is ... that isn't their mandate ... those are/were meant to be end-user lists, not developer ones ...
    >
    > We know from experience that doesn't work. People just end up
    > crossposting, because they're not sure people are on both lists. And
    > then you want to move a discussion, which just means you have to CC in
    > both lists, leading to even more duplication.
    >
    > If there was a clear distinction between end-user and dev it might
    > make sense. That how commercial software companies tend to work -
    > don't let devs talk to end users. That's not how we work. Forcing
    > people to look in different places just throws hurdles in front of
    > those trying to help out.
    
    What *are* you talking about?  This doesn't seem to have anything related 
    to what I said :)
    
    All I was saying was that -performance and -admin are not development 
    discusion lists, not that developers aren't subscribed / talking on them 
    ... that doesn't make them any less end-user lists ...
    
    ----
    Marc G. Fournier                        Hub.Org Hosting Solutions S.A.
    scrappy@hub.org                                     http://www.hub.org
    
    Yahoo:yscrappy    Skype: hub.org    ICQ:7615664    MSN:scrappy@hub.org
    
    
  17. Re: List traffic

    Magnus Hagander <magnus@hagander.net> — 2010-05-13T13:44:29Z

    On Thu, May 13, 2010 at 3:27 PM, Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> wrote:
    > On Thu, 13 May 2010, Magnus Hagander wrote:
    >
    >> On Thu, May 13, 2010 at 2:04 AM, Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> wrote:
    >>>
    >>> On Wed, 12 May 2010, Greg Stark wrote:
    >>>
    >>>> I'm thinking I'll move -general (and the useless -novice) to another folder. But I'm left wondering what to do with -admin and -performance. They're a random mix of user content and developer content. I'll probably move them along with -general but that means I won't be likely to see any development discussion on them in the future
    >>>
    >>> There shouldn't be any dev discussions on them as it is ... that isn't their mandate ... those are/were meant to be end-user lists, not developer ones ...
    >>
    >> We know from experience that doesn't work. People just end up
    >> crossposting, because they're not sure people are on both lists. And
    >> then you want to move a discussion, which just means you have to CC in
    >> both lists, leading to even more duplication.
    >>
    >> If there was a clear distinction between end-user and dev it might
    >> make sense. That how commercial software companies tend to work -
    >> don't let devs talk to end users. That's not how we work. Forcing
    >> people to look in different places just throws hurdles in front of
    >> those trying to help out.
    >
    > What *are* you talking about?  This doesn't seem to have anything related to what I said :)
    >
    > All I was saying was that -performance and -admin are not development discusion lists, not that developers aren't subscribed / talking on them ... that doesn't make them any less end-user lists ...
    
    Yes, and I'm saying there is no real difference between end-user,
    development, admin and performance. The amount of crossover is so
    large the distinction rapidly becomes pointless.
    
    
    -- 
     Magnus Hagander
     Me: http://www.hagander.net/
     Work: http://www.redpill-linpro.com/
    
    
  18. Re: List traffic

    Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> — 2010-05-13T18:05:38Z

    My thought had been a split along the lines of major components of the 
    server ... for instance, a totally seperate list for HS related issues, so 
    that, if nothing else, those 'lurkers' that are only interested in 
    developments on that front could be there but not on the main stream 
    -hackers ... almost like seperate working groups ...
    
    Twas just a thought ...
    
    On Wed, 12 May 2010, Greg Stark wrote:
    
    > On Wed, May 12, 2010 at 5:24 PM, Robert Haas <robertmhaas@gmail.com> wrote:
    >> The difference between discussing a patch and discussing an idea that
    >> might lead to a patch is fairly fine.
    >
    > And importantly -- who would be able to subscribe to one and not the
    > other? If you have to subscribe to both to get make any sense of
    > things then there's no point.
    >
    > Fwiw I'm having trouble keeping up these days too. And I'm quite
    > accustomed to very heavy traffic email. I've been throwing all
    > postgres related lists into one folder and skimmed through it looking
    > for important threads. However this has now broken down. There are
    > about 45 new threads every day. I've been travelling for a bit and am
    > now 1,500 threads behind...
    >
    > If we can find a way to split the content sensibly so I could stop
    > reading some of it that would be helpful. But cutting splitting it
    > along subject matter where both sets of subject matter need to be seen
    > by the same people doesn't really help.
    >
    > I'm thinking I'll move -general (and the useless -novice) to another
    > folder. But I'm left wondering what to do with -admin and
    > -performance. They're a random mix of user content and developer
    > content. I'll probably move them along with -general but that means I
    > won't be likely to see any development discussion on them in the
    > future.
    >
    >
    >
    >
    > -- 
    > greg
    >
    > -- 
    > Sent via pgsql-hackers mailing list (pgsql-hackers@postgresql.org)
    > To make changes to your subscription:
    > http://www.postgresql.org/mailpref/pgsql-hackers
    >
    
    ----
    Marc G. Fournier                        Hub.Org Hosting Solutions S.A.
    scrappy@hub.org                                     http://www.hub.org
    
    Yahoo:yscrappy    Skype: hub.org    ICQ:7615664    MSN:scrappy@hub.org
    
    
  19. Re: List traffic

    Yeb Havinga <yebhavinga@gmail.com> — 2010-05-13T19:06:53Z

    Greg Stark wrote:
    > On Wed, May 12, 2010 at 5:24 PM, Robert Haas <robertmhaas@gmail.com> wrote:
    >   
    >> The difference between discussing a patch and discussing an idea that
    >> might lead to a patch is fairly fine.
    >>     
    >
    > And importantly -- who would be able to subscribe to one and not the
    > other? If you have to subscribe to both to get make any sense of
    > things then there's no point.
    >
    > Fwiw I'm having trouble keeping up these days too. And I'm quite
    > accustomed to very heavy traffic email. I've been throwing all
    > postgres related lists into one folder and skimmed through it looking
    > for important threads. However this has now broken down. There are
    > about 45 new threads every day. I've been travelling for a bit and am
    > now 1,500 threads behind...
    >   
    I've only been actively reading the pg lists for a few months now, after 
    several previous attempts that failed mainly because the way I set it up 
    did not work nice, mainly because of the volume. I tried digests, didn't 
    like it (how to reply?), also didn't like that the pg mails that were so 
    many completely swamped the 'main' email I use.
    
    Now I made a new gmail account, subscribed to all lists with some volume 
    and let it all message per message come into the inbox. Together with 
    thunderbird/imap this works quite nicely. With filters it's possible to 
    tag interesting messages (like does the To: contain my email? -> tag it 
    so it becomes green). Now I only need to view unread mails, (by thread 
    or date), read some messages and then ctrl-shift-c - all read.
    
    My $0.02 - I like the whole 'don't sort, search' (or how did they call 
    it?) just let the inbox fill up, google is fast enough. What would be 
    really interesting is to have some extra 'tags/headers' added to the 
    emails (document classification with e.g. self organizing map/kohonen), 
    so my local filters could make labels based on that, instead of perhaps 
    badly spelled keywords in subjects or message body.
    
    regards,
    Yeb Havinga
    
    
  20. Re: List traffic

    Magnus Hagander <magnus@hagander.net> — 2010-05-13T20:37:27Z

    On Thu, May 13, 2010 at 8:05 PM, Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> wrote:
    >
    > My thought had been a split along the lines of major components of the server ... for instance, a totally seperate list for HS related issues, so that, if nothing else, those 'lurkers' that are only interested in developments on that front could be there but not on the main stream -hackers ... almost like seperate working groups ...
    
    We tried that with pgsql-hackers-win32 and iirc also
    pgsql-hackers-pitr, and it was a big failure...
    
    -- 
     Magnus Hagander
     Me: http://www.hagander.net/
     Work: http://www.redpill-linpro.com/
    
    
  21. Re: List traffic

    Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> — 2010-05-13T20:43:22Z

    On Thu, 13 May 2010, Magnus Hagander wrote:
    
    > On Thu, May 13, 2010 at 8:05 PM, Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> wrote:
    >>
    >> My thought had been a split along the lines of major components of the server ... for instance, a totally seperate list for HS related issues, so that, if nothing else, those 'lurkers' that are only interested in developments on that front could be there but not on the main stream -hackers ... almost like seperate working groups ...
    >
    > We tried that with pgsql-hackers-win32 and iirc also
    > pgsql-hackers-pitr, and it was a big failure...
    
    But, we are doing that now with pgsql-cluster-hackers and it looks to be 
    working quite well from what I can see ... guess it depends on if ppl want 
    it to fail in the first place or not *shrug*
    
    It also depends if a clear line can be drawn and adhered to ...
    
    
    
    ----
    Marc G. Fournier                        Hub.Org Hosting Solutions S.A.
    scrappy@hub.org                                     http://www.hub.org
    
    Yahoo:yscrappy    Skype: hub.org    ICQ:7615664    MSN:scrappy@hub.org
    
    
  22. Re: List traffic

    Alvaro Herrera <alvherre@alvh.no-ip.org> — 2010-05-13T20:53:22Z

    Excerpts from Yeb Havinga's message of jue may 13 15:06:53 -0400 2010:
    
    > Now I made a new gmail account, subscribed to all lists with some volume 
    > and let it all message per message come into the inbox. Together with 
    > thunderbird/imap this works quite nicely. With filters it's possible to 
    > tag interesting messages (like does the To: contain my email? -> tag it 
    > so it becomes green). Now I only need to view unread mails, (by thread 
    > or date), read some messages and then ctrl-shift-c - all read.
    > 
    > My $0.02 - I like the whole 'don't sort, search' (or how did they call 
    > it?) just let the inbox fill up, google is fast enough. What would be 
    > really interesting is to have some extra 'tags/headers' added to the 
    > emails (document classification with e.g. self organizing map/kohonen), 
    > so my local filters could make labels based on that, instead of perhaps 
    > badly spelled keywords in subjects or message body.
    
    Yeah, this approach is interesting.  A few days ago I started using Sup
    ( http://sup.rubyforge.org/ ) to manage my email, and after a rather
    lengthy warm-up process, I find it a lot more comfortable than Mutt (or
    anything else I've tried earlier, for that matter).  I particularly like
    the multiple buffer approach, avoiding the need for switching between
    several Mutt instances, one for each mailbox.
    
    So it's almost like gmail: you get fast search, labelling, and a
    thread-based approach rather than message-based.  As with gmail, you can
    "mute" threads that are not interesting to you, so that if any email
    arrives later to that thread, you will not see it unless you actively
    look for it.  An old (unmuted) thread receiving a new message jumps back
    at the top of the list; and you can dismiss stuff as "archived" with a
    single keystroke, and it will stop polluting your immediate environment,
    but you can search for it.  And it's pretty *fast* with searches (uses
    Xapian as backend).
    
    It's clearly a programmer's MUA -- if you want automatic labelling, you
    better be prepared to write some Ruby code.  I have already written some
    simple rules that get me the trivial labels for pgsql lists and such; I
    have also ported the Perl moderation script I used, and the main
    advantage is that it's a tad faster (though I spent a lot more time
    writing that function than I'll ever save actually doing moderation --
    but hey, I managed to learn some Ruby in the process).
    
    It is rather immature though, so I can't recommend it unless you're
    prepared to deal with that.
    -- 
    
    
  23. Re: List traffic

    Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> — 2010-05-13T21:07:43Z

    On Thu, 13 May 2010, Alvaro Herrera wrote:
    
    > Excerpts from Yeb Havinga's message of jue may 13 15:06:53 -0400 2010:
    >
    >> My $0.02 - I like the whole 'don't sort, search' (or how did they call
    >> it?) just let the inbox fill up, google is fast enough. What would be
    >> really interesting is to have some extra 'tags/headers' added to the
    >> emails (document classification with e.g. self organizing map/kohonen),
    >> so my local filters could make labels based on that, instead of perhaps
    >> badly spelled keywords in subjects or message body.
    
    I missed this when I read it the first time .. all list email does have an 
    X-Mailing-List header added so that you can label based on list itself ... 
    is that what you mean, or are you thinking of something else entirely?
    
    
    ----
    Marc G. Fournier                        Hub.Org Hosting Solutions S.A.
    scrappy@hub.org                                     http://www.hub.org
    
    Yahoo:yscrappy    Skype: hub.org    ICQ:7615664    MSN:scrappy@hub.org
    
    
  24. Re: List traffic

    Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us> — 2010-05-13T21:19:08Z

    "Marc G. Fournier" <scrappy@hub.org> writes:
    > On Thu, 13 May 2010, Magnus Hagander wrote:
    >> We tried that with pgsql-hackers-win32 and iirc also
    >> pgsql-hackers-pitr, and it was a big failure...
    
    > But, we are doing that now with pgsql-cluster-hackers and it looks to be 
    > working quite well from what I can see ...
    
    Is it?  If they want someplace where the majority of hackers won't see
    the discussion, maybe, but I am not sure that's not counterproductive.
    Ideas developed by a small group may or may not survive exposure when
    they reach this list.
    
    			regards, tom lane
    
    
  25. Re: List traffic

    Dimitri Fontaine <dfontaine@hi-media.com> — 2010-05-13T21:29:10Z

    Alvaro Herrera <alvherre@alvh.no-ip.org> writes:
    > Excerpts from Yeb Havinga's message of jue may 13 15:06:53 -0400 2010:
    >
    >> Now I made a new gmail account
    >
    > Yeah, this approach is interesting.  A few days ago I started using Sup
    > ( http://sup.rubyforge.org/ ) to manage my email
    
    Feature wise, I think gnus offers more than the two approaches
    combined. Speed wise some people use it with some indexing solution, I'm
    not finding the need yet.
    
    And yes, to handle our lists traffic you must have a MUA made for
    it. That's the reason why I switched, and it's working great here.
    
    Regards,
    -- 
    dim
    
    
  26. Re: List traffic

    Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> — 2010-05-13T22:13:30Z

    On Thu, 13 May 2010, Tom Lane wrote:
    
    > "Marc G. Fournier" <scrappy@hub.org> writes:
    >> On Thu, 13 May 2010, Magnus Hagander wrote:
    >>> We tried that with pgsql-hackers-win32 and iirc also
    >>> pgsql-hackers-pitr, and it was a big failure...
    >
    >> But, we are doing that now with pgsql-cluster-hackers and it looks to be
    >> working quite well from what I can see ...
    >
    > Is it?  If they want someplace where the majority of hackers won't see
    > the discussion, maybe, but I am not sure that's not counterproductive.
    > Ideas developed by a small group may or may not survive exposure when
    > they reach this list.
    
    But that, IMHO, is the point of the smaller list ... it allows the group 
    on that list to hash out their ideas, and, hopefully, deal with both 
    arguments and counter arguments so that when presented to the larger 
    group, they would then have a more cohesive arg for their ideas ...
    
    Marc G. Fournier                        Hub.Org Hosting Solutions S.A.
    scrappy@hub.org                                     http://www.hub.org
    
    Yahoo:yscrappy    Skype: hub.org    ICQ:7615664    MSN:scrappy@hub.org
    
    
  27. Re: List traffic

    Joshua D. Drake <jd@commandprompt.com> — 2010-05-13T22:39:18Z

    On Thu, 2010-05-13 at 19:13 -0300, Marc G. Fournier wrote:
    > On Thu, 13 May 2010, Tom Lane wrote:
    > 
    > > "Marc G. Fournier" <scrappy@hub.org> writes:
    > >> On Thu, 13 May 2010, Magnus Hagander wrote:
    > >>> We tried that with pgsql-hackers-win32 and iirc also
    > >>> pgsql-hackers-pitr, and it was a big failure...
    > >
    > >> But, we are doing that now with pgsql-cluster-hackers and it looks to be
    > >> working quite well from what I can see ...
    > >
    > > Is it?  If they want someplace where the majority of hackers won't see
    > > the discussion, maybe, but I am not sure that's not counterproductive.
    > > Ideas developed by a small group may or may not survive exposure when
    > > they reach this list.
    > 
    > But that, IMHO, is the point of the smaller list ... it allows the group 
    > on that list to hash out their ideas, and, hopefully, deal with both 
    > arguments and counter arguments so that when presented to the larger 
    > group, they would then have a more cohesive arg for their ideas ...
    
    Yes and no. After being on these lists for years, I have kind of been
    moving toward the less is more. E.g; for main list traffic I can see the
    need for two maybe three, that's it:
    
    hackers
    general
    www
    
    There is no reason why advocacy can't happen on general. Theoretically
    www could be on hackers (although I do see the point of a separate
    list).
    
    A good MUA will deal with any overhead you have. I use Evolution and no
    its not perfect but I have no problem managing the hordes of email I get
    from this community.
    
    Between labels, filters, watch lists and all the other goodies any MUA
    will give you, I see no reason to have this all broken out anymore.
    
    Joshua D. Drake
    
    
    -- 
    PostgreSQL.org Major Contributor
    Command Prompt, Inc: http://www.commandprompt.com/ - 503.667.4564
    Consulting, Training, Support, Custom Development, Engineering
    
    
    
    
  28. Re: List traffic

    Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us> — 2010-05-13T22:46:04Z

    "Joshua D. Drake" <jd@commandprompt.com> writes:
    > On Thu, 2010-05-13 at 19:13 -0300, Marc G. Fournier wrote:
    >> But that, IMHO, is the point of the smaller list ... it allows the group 
    >> on that list to hash out their ideas, and, hopefully, deal with both 
    >> arguments and counter arguments so that when presented to the larger 
    >> group, they would then have a more cohesive arg for their ideas ...
    
    > Yes and no. After being on these lists for years, I have kind of been
    > moving toward the less is more. E.g; for main list traffic I can see the
    > need for two maybe three, that's it:
    
    > hackers
    > general
    > www
    
    I can see the need for small tightly-focused special lists.  www is a
    good example, and perhaps pgsql-cluster-hackers is too (though I'm less
    convinced of that than Marc is).  I agree that we've done poorly with
    lists with wider charters, mainly because there is so little clarity
    about which topics belong where.
    
    I'd keep -bugs and -performance, which seem to be reasonably well
    focused, but I can definitely see collapsing most of the other "user"
    lists into -general.
    
    			regards, tom lane
    
    
  29. Re: List traffic

    Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> — 2010-05-14T03:11:40Z

    On Thu, 13 May 2010, Joshua D. Drake wrote:
    
    > Between labels, filters, watch lists and all the other goodies any MUA 
    > will give you, I see no reason to have this all broken out anymore.
    
    So, if one merges all the lists into one (not arguing for / against that), 
    how do you filter?  Based on what?  Right now, ppl filter based on the 
    X-Mailing-List header, or just the Participant ...
    
    ----
    Marc G. Fournier                        Hub.Org Hosting Solutions S.A.
    scrappy@hub.org                                     http://www.hub.org
    
    Yahoo:yscrappy    Skype: hub.org    ICQ:7615664    MSN:scrappy@hub.org
    
    
  30. Re: List traffic

    Greg Smith <greg@2ndquadrant.com> — 2010-05-14T03:39:17Z

    Tom Lane wrote:
    > I can see the need for small tightly-focused special lists.
    
    How about a list devoted to discussions about reorganizing the lists?  
    It would get plenty of traffic, and then I could not subscribe to that 
    and have that many less messages to read.
    
    There is only one viable solution to reduce list traffic:  ban forever 
    everyone who top-posts or doesn't trim what they quote.  Maybe some 
    other old-school Usenet rules too--can we ban those with incorrectly 
    formatted signatures and finally add proper bozo tagging?  Praise Kibo.
    
    Seriously though, I file admin/general/performance into one user 
    oriented folder, hackers/committers into a second, and all the non-code 
    ones (advocacy, www, docs) into a third.  I don't think there's any way 
    to restructure those lists that will improve life for people who try to 
    keep up with most of them.  I was traveling yesterday and busy today, 
    and now I'm 350 messages behind.  No amount of rijiggering the lists 
    will change the fact that there's just that much activity happening 
    around PostgreSQL.  You can move the messages around, but the same 
    number are going to show up, and people who want to keep up with 
    everything will have to cope with that.  The best you can do is get 
    better support in your mail program for wiping out whole threads at 
    once, once you've realized you're not interested in them.
    
    The only real argument to keep some more targeted lists is for the 
    benefit of the people who subscribe to them, not we the faithful, so 
    that they can have something that isn't a firehose of messages to sort 
    through.  Is it helpful to novices that they can subscribe to a list 
    when they won't be overwhelmed by traffic, and can ask questions without 
    being too concerned about being harassed for being newbies?  Probably.  
    Are there enough people interesting in performance topics alone to 
    justify a list targeted just to them?  Certainly; I was only on that 
    list for a long time before joining any of the others.  Are the 
    marketing oriented people subscribed only to advocacy and maybe announce 
    happy to avoid the rest of the lists?  You bet.
    
    Folding, say, performance or admin into general, one idea that pops up 
    sometimes, doesn't help those people--now they can only get the 
    firehose--and it doesn't help me, either.  If you can keep up with 
    general, whether or not the other lists are also included in that or not 
    doesn't really matter.  Ditto for hackers and the things you might try 
    and split out of it.  It's just going to end up with more cross posting, 
    and the only thing I hate more than a mailbox full of messages is 
    discovering a chunk of them are dupes because of that.
    
    I might like to see, for example, a user mailing list devoted strictly 
    to replication/clustering work with PostgreSQL.  That's another topic I 
    think that people are going to want to ask about more in the near future 
    without getting overwhelmed.  But, again, that's for their benefit.  
    I'll have to subscribe to that, too, and in reality it will probably 
    increase the amount of messages I read, because people will ask stuff 
    there that's already been covered on other lists, and vice-versa.
    
    -- 
    Greg Smith  2ndQuadrant US  Baltimore, MD
    PostgreSQL Training, Services and Support
    greg@2ndQuadrant.com   www.2ndQuadrant.us
    
    
    
  31. Re: List traffic

    Alvaro Herrera <alvherre@alvh.no-ip.org> — 2010-05-14T03:46:07Z

    Excerpts from Marc G. Fournier's message of jue may 13 23:11:40 -0400 2010:
    > On Thu, 13 May 2010, Joshua D. Drake wrote:
    > 
    > > Between labels, filters, watch lists and all the other goodies any MUA 
    > > will give you, I see no reason to have this all broken out anymore.
    > 
    > So, if one merges all the lists into one (not arguing for / against that), 
    > how do you filter?  Based on what?  Right now, ppl filter based on the 
    > X-Mailing-List header, or just the Participant ...
    
    If most of the questions are badly categorized or cross posted to more
    than one list, how useful a label is the X-Mailing-List header?  How
    useful is to filter on the "pgsql-general" label?
    -- 
    
    
  32. Re: List traffic

    Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> — 2010-05-14T05:29:39Z

    On Thu, 13 May 2010, Alvaro Herrera wrote:
    
    > If most of the questions are badly categorized or cross posted to more
    > than one list, how useful a label is the X-Mailing-List header?  How
    > useful is to filter on the "pgsql-general" label?
    
    That is a point, but, IMHO, that is one of our key issues ... we *allow* 
    that sort of cross-posting in the first place ... FreeBSD lists allow 
    cross-posting to no more then 2 mailing lists, I believe, but there is 
    definitely a limit ...
    
    ... is there a reason why, other the fact that we don't do now, that we 
    can't just put in a restriction against cross posting altogether?
    
    
    ... and, for those that have been here awhile, who "should know better", 
    why isn't there any self-management of this sort of stuff in the first 
    place?
    
    ----
    Marc G. Fournier                        Hub.Org Hosting Solutions S.A.
    scrappy@hub.org                                     http://www.hub.org
    
    Yahoo:yscrappy    Skype: hub.org    ICQ:7615664    MSN:scrappy@hub.org
    
    
  33. Re: List traffic

    Yeb Havinga <yebhavinga@gmail.com> — 2010-05-14T07:13:17Z

    Marc G. Fournier wrote:
    > On Thu, 13 May 2010, Alvaro Herrera wrote:
    >
    >> Excerpts from Yeb Havinga's message of jue may 13 15:06:53 -0400 2010:
    >>
    >>> My $0.02 - I like the whole 'don't sort, search' (or how did they call
    >>> it?) just let the inbox fill up, google is fast enough. What would be
    >>> really interesting is to have some extra 'tags/headers' added to the
    >>> emails (document classification with e.g. self organizing map/kohonen),
    >>> so my local filters could make labels based on that, instead of perhaps
    >>> badly spelled keywords in subjects or message body.
    >
    > I missed this when I read it the first time .. all list email does 
    > have an X-Mailing-List header added so that you can label based on 
    > list itself ... is that what you mean, or are you thinking of 
    > something else entirely?
    Something else: if automatic classification of articles was in place, 
    there would be need of fewer mailing lists, depending on the quality of 
    the classification.
    
    IMHO the problem of handling the big volume of the lists is not solved 
    by splitting into more, since it does not decrease the amount of posts 
    that are interesting from the subscribers perspective. It would only 
    mean that posters are more likely to make mistakes, a possible increase 
    in crossposts or 'my question was not answered there so now I try here' 
    on the sender part, and at the subscriber side bigger chance to miss 
    interesting articles. That my current mailing list setup works for me 
    supports this claim; I did not subscribe to less lists, but managed to 
    decrease the ms spent at 'handling' to an amount that became workable.
    
    Though I do not believe algorithmic article classification/ranking to 
    provide a 100% fool proof filter, it might help decreasing the "ms spent 
    per article" more. Take a look at how "carrot2" clusters results from 
    the query  "postgresql prepared transactions site:postgresql.org" - 
    http://search.carrot2.org/stable/search?source=web&view=tree&skin=fancy-compact&query=postgresql+prepared+transactions+site%3Apostgresql.org&results=100&algorithm=lingo&EToolsDocumentSource.country=ALL&EToolsDocumentSource.language=ENGLISH&EToolsDocumentSource.safeSearch=false
    
    I wonder if a cluster algorithm could tag articles with (multiple) 
    keywords, e.g. 'hackers','prepared transaction','dba' etc etc. I could 
    then make filters or ranking on: hackers AND optimizer -> +10.
    
    regards,
    Yeb Havinga
    
    
    
  34. Re: List traffic

    Greg Stark <gsstark@mit.edu> — 2010-05-14T13:16:47Z

    On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 4:39 AM, Greg Smith <greg@2ndquadrant.com> wrote:
    > Is it
    > helpful to novices that they can subscribe to a list when they won't be
    > overwhelmed by traffic, and can ask questions without being too concerned
    > about being harassed for being newbies?  Probably.
    
    Only if they aren't hoping to get answers... What percentage of the
    hackers and experts who trawl -general for questions to answer are
    subscribed to -novices?
    
    -general isn't subscriber-only posts is it?
    
    > Are there enough people
    > interesting in performance topics alone to justify a list targeted just to
    > them?  Certainly; I was only on that list for a long time before joining any
    > of the others.
    
    If they're interested in performance topics and they're not subscribed
    to -general then they're missing *most* of what they're interested in
    which doesn't take place on -performance. And most of what's on
    -performance ends up being non-performance related questions anyways.
    
    I think what I'm getting at is that we shouldn't have any lists for
    traffic which could reasonably happen on -general. If it's a usage
    question about postgres then it belongs in the same place regardless
    of what feature or aspect of the usage it is -- otherwise it'll always
    be some random subset of the relevant messages.
    
    This won't actually cut down on list traffic for me and Simon but it
    would help get people answers since they'll be posting to the same
    place as everyone else.
    
    > Are the marketing oriented people subscribed only to
    > advocacy and maybe announce happy to avoid the rest of the lists?  You bet.
    
    Well yeah. This is an actual discernible distinction. As evidence
    I'llnote that there is no advocacy traffic on -general or other
    mailing lists.
    
    
    
    -- 
    greg
    
    
  35. Re: List traffic

    Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> — 2010-05-14T13:39:06Z

    On Fri, 14 May 2010, Greg Stark wrote:
    
    > On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 4:39 AM, Greg Smith <greg@2ndquadrant.com> wrote:
    >> Is it
    >> helpful to novices that they can subscribe to a list when they won't be
    >> overwhelmed by traffic, and can ask questions without being too concerned
    >> about being harassed for being newbies?  Probably.
    >
    > Only if they aren't hoping to get answers... What percentage of the
    > hackers and experts who trawl -general for questions to answer are
    > subscribed to -novices?
    >
    > -general isn't subscriber-only posts is it?
    
    All our lists are, yes ... *but* ... the 'subscriber list' is cross list, 
    in that if you are subscribed to one, you can post to all ...
    
    > If they're interested in performance topics and they're not subscribed
    > to -general then they're missing *most* of what they're interested in
    > which doesn't take place on -performance. And most of what's on
    > -performance ends up being non-performance related questions anyways.
    
    And IMHO, that is as much a fault of the 'old timers' on the lists as the 
    newbies ... if nobody redirects / loosely enforces the mandates of the 
    various lists, newbies aren't going to learn to post to more 
    appropriate ones ...
    
    Personally, my experience with large lists is that if there is a smaller, 
    more focused list, I'll post there first, to avoid being lost in the noise 
    ... and, I will re-post to a more general list *if* and only if I'm unable 
    to get an answer from where I posted my original ...
    
    ----
    Marc G. Fournier                        Hub.Org Hosting Solutions S.A.
    scrappy@hub.org                                     http://www.hub.org
    
    Yahoo:yscrappy    Skype: hub.org    ICQ:7615664    MSN:scrappy@hub.org
    
    
  36. Re: List traffic

    Greg Sabino Mullane <greg@turnstep.com> — 2010-05-14T14:05:59Z

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    > ... is there a reason why, other the fact that we don't do now, that we 
    > can't just put in a restriction against cross posting altogether?
    
    Because that would be shooting ourselves in the foot. Cross-posting 
    is often desirable. If we had a clearer distinction of list topics, I 
    might support such a move, but we don't, so I can't.
    
    > ... and, for those that have been here awhile, who "should know better", 
    > why isn't there any self-management of this sort of stuff in the first 
    > place?
    
    What would you have us do?
    
    - -- 
    Greg Sabino Mullane greg@turnstep.com
    End Point Corporation http://www.endpoint.com/
    PGP Key: 0x14964AC8 201005141005
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  37. Re: List traffic

    Greg Sabino Mullane <greg@turnstep.com> — 2010-05-14T14:10:32Z

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    > There is no reason why advocacy can't happen on general. Theoretically
    > www could be on hackers (although I do see the point of a separate
    > list).
    
    I don't feel as strong about -advocacy being removed, but we certainly 
    can fold in -sql and -admin. Would anyone argue against rolling those 
    two (sql and admin) into -general as a first step?
    
    - -- 
    Greg Sabino Mullane greg@turnstep.com
    End Point Corporation http://www.endpoint.com/
    PGP Key: 0x14964AC8 201005141009
    http://biglumber.com/x/web?pk=2529DF6AB8F79407E94445B4BC9B906714964AC8
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  38. Re: List traffic

    Kevin Grittner <kevin.grittner@wicourts.gov> — 2010-05-14T14:21:02Z

    "Greg Sabino Mullane" <greg@turnstep.com> wrote:
     
    > Would anyone argue against rolling those two (sql and admin) into
    > -general as a first step?
     
    At the risk of repeating myself, I won't be able to keep up with the
    traffic of the combined list; so rather than read 100% of the
    messages from a smaller set, I'll need to pick and choose based on
    subject line or some such.  I get the impression that other people,
    who read different subsets of the lists, will be forced to a similar
    change.  That may result in either some posts "slipping through the
    cracks" or in increasing the burden of responding to the posts for
    those brave few who wade through them all.
     
    Personally, I'm not convince that merging current lists will solve
    more problems than it will create.
     
    -Kevin
    
    
  39. Re: List traffic

    Robert Haas <robertmhaas@gmail.com> — 2010-05-14T14:26:15Z

    On Thu, May 13, 2010 at 11:39 PM, Greg Smith <greg@2ndquadrant.com> wrote:
    > The only real argument to keep some more targeted lists is for the benefit
    > of the people who subscribe to them, not we the faithful, so that they can
    > have something that isn't a firehose of messages to sort through.  Is it
    > helpful to novices that they can subscribe to a list when they won't be
    > overwhelmed by traffic, and can ask questions without being too concerned
    > about being harassed for being newbies?  Probably.  Are there enough people
    > interesting in performance topics alone to justify a list targeted just to
    > them?  Certainly; I was only on that list for a long time before joining any
    > of the others.  Are the marketing oriented people subscribed only to
    > advocacy and maybe announce happy to avoid the rest of the lists?  You bet.
    >
    > Folding, say, performance or admin into general, one idea that pops up
    > sometimes, doesn't help those people--now they can only get the
    > firehose--and it doesn't help me, either.  If you can keep up with general,
    > whether or not the other lists are also included in that or not doesn't
    > really matter.  Ditto for hackers and the things you might try and split out
    > of it.  It's just going to end up with more cross posting, and the only
    > thing I hate more than a mailbox full of messages is discovering a chunk of
    > them are dupes because of that.
    
    +1.
    
    > I might like to see, for example, a user mailing list devoted strictly to
    > replication/clustering work with PostgreSQL.  That's another topic I think
    > that people are going to want to ask about more in the near future without
    > getting overwhelmed.  But, again, that's for their benefit.  I'll have to
    > subscribe to that, too, and in reality it will probably increase the amount
    > of messages I read, because people will ask stuff there that's already been
    > covered on other lists, and vice-versa.
    
    Yep.
    
    -- 
    Robert Haas
    EnterpriseDB: http://www.enterprisedb.com
    The Enterprise Postgres Company
    
    
  40. Re: List traffic

    Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> — 2010-05-14T14:38:39Z

    On Fri, 14 May 2010, Greg Sabino Mullane wrote:
    
    >
    > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
    > Hash: RIPEMD160
    >
    >
    >> ... is there a reason why, other the fact that we don't do now, that we
    >> can't just put in a restriction against cross posting altogether?
    >
    > Because that would be shooting ourselves in the foot. Cross-posting
    > is often desirable. If we had a clearer distinction of list topics, I
    > might support such a move, but we don't, so I can't.
    
    But, its the cross-posting, IMHO, that reduces the distinction ...
    
    >> ... and, for those that have been here awhile, who "should know better",
    >> why isn't there any self-management of this sort of stuff in the first
    >> place?
    >
    > What would you have us do?
    
    Redirect users ... if user sends a query performance related question to 
    -general, respond back with -general as the CC, To as -performance and a 
    Reply-To header of -performance ... that way those on -general know that 
    its been redirected, but *hopefully* users replying will honor the 
    -performance redirect ...
    
    ----
    Marc G. Fournier                        Hub.Org Hosting Solutions S.A.
    scrappy@hub.org                                     http://www.hub.org
    
    Yahoo:yscrappy    Skype: hub.org    ICQ:7615664    MSN:scrappy@hub.org
    
    
  41. Re: List traffic

    Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> — 2010-05-14T14:42:09Z

    On Fri, 14 May 2010, Greg Sabino Mullane wrote:
    
    >
    > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
    > Hash: RIPEMD160
    >
    >
    >> There is no reason why advocacy can't happen on general. Theoretically
    >> www could be on hackers (although I do see the point of a separate
    >> list).
    >
    > I don't feel as strong about -advocacy being removed, but we certainly
    > can fold in -sql and -admin. Would anyone argue against rolling those
    > two (sql and admin) into -general as a first step?
    
    Question ... we have, right now:
    
    -sql : how to write a query
    -performance : how to improve performance of my queries
    -admin : how to admin the server
    -novice : I'm a new user
    -odbc : how to use ...
    -php : php related interface questions
    -interfaces : more general then -odbc
    
    why not close down -general so that ppl *have* to use better pick where to 
    post their question ...
    
    
    ----
    Marc G. Fournier                        Hub.Org Hosting Solutions S.A.
    scrappy@hub.org                                     http://www.hub.org
    
    Yahoo:yscrappy    Skype: hub.org    ICQ:7615664    MSN:scrappy@hub.org
    
    
  42. Re: List traffic

    Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> — 2010-05-14T14:44:38Z

    On Fri, 14 May 2010, Kevin Grittner wrote:
    
    > "Greg Sabino Mullane" <greg@turnstep.com> wrote:
    >
    >> Would anyone argue against rolling those two (sql and admin) into
    >> -general as a first step?
    >
    > At the risk of repeating myself, I won't be able to keep up with the
    > traffic of the combined list; so rather than read 100% of the
    > messages from a smaller set, I'll need to pick and choose based on
    > subject line or some such.  I get the impression that other people,
    > who read different subsets of the lists, will be forced to a similar
    > change.  That may result in either some posts "slipping through the
    > cracks" or in increasing the burden of responding to the posts for
    > those brave few who wade through them all.
    
    That's what I find with the freebsd-questions list ... there is so much 
    noise in there that I tend to avoid posting to it for fear that my email 
    will just get skip'd over ...
    
    I am definitely against *merging* lists ... getting rid of the 'meta list' 
    makes more sense so as to force ppl to *use* the smaller lists then to 
    merge smaller lists and *increase* the noise on one of them ...
    
    ----
    Marc G. Fournier                        Hub.Org Hosting Solutions S.A.
    scrappy@hub.org                                     http://www.hub.org
    
    Yahoo:yscrappy    Skype: hub.org    ICQ:7615664    MSN:scrappy@hub.org
    
    
  43. Re: List traffic

    Kevin Grittner <kevin.grittner@wicourts.gov> — 2010-05-14T14:56:55Z

    "Marc G. Fournier" <scrappy@hub.org> wrote:
     
    > -sql : how to write a query
    > -performance : how to improve performance of my queries
    > -admin : how to admin the server
    > -novice : I'm a new user
    > -odbc : how to use ...
    > -php : php related interface questions
    > -interfaces : more general then -odbc
    > 
    > why not close down -general so that ppl *have* to use better pick
    > where to post their question ...
     
    That's a change I could support.  I even think the descriptions are
    pretty close to what should show.
     
    In trying to think what might be missing, I wonder whether we could
    decrease inappropriate traffic on the -bugs list if we had a
    "feature request" list, for end users not prepared to discuss things
    at the level appropriate for -hackers, but who think that PostgreSQL
    should support some feature they don't see.
     
    -Kevin
    
    
  44. Re: List traffic

    Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us> — 2010-05-14T15:21:22Z

    "Marc G. Fournier" <scrappy@hub.org> writes:
    > why not close down -general so that ppl *have* to use better pick where to 
    > post their question ...
    
    I can't imagine that there's not going to need to be a "catchall" list
    for problems that don't fit into any of the subcategories.
    
    More generally, we already have most of the lists that you suggest, and
    we already know that people frequently don't find the most appropriate
    list for postings.  I don't think getting rid of -general would help
    that in the least.  The way to cut down on misposted traffic is to make
    the set of categories smaller and simpler, not to redouble our efforts
    to persuade people to use the same or even more categories.
    
    BTW, as far as "no crossposting" goes: usually when I find myself doing
    that, it's to redirect a thread that started on -bugs or -general into
    -hackers.  I don't see the need for that going away.
    
    			regards, tom lane
    
    
  45. Re: List traffic

    Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> — 2010-05-14T15:37:34Z

    On Fri, 14 May 2010, Yeb Havinga wrote:
    
    > Marc G. Fournier wrote:
    >> On Thu, 13 May 2010, Alvaro Herrera wrote:
    >> 
    >>> Excerpts from Yeb Havinga's message of jue may 13 15:06:53 -0400 2010:
    >>> 
    >>>> My $0.02 - I like the whole 'don't sort, search' (or how did they call
    >>>> it?) just let the inbox fill up, google is fast enough. What would be
    >>>> really interesting is to have some extra 'tags/headers' added to the
    >>>> emails (document classification with e.g. self organizing map/kohonen),
    >>>> so my local filters could make labels based on that, instead of perhaps
    >>>> badly spelled keywords in subjects or message body.
    >> 
    >> I missed this when I read it the first time .. all list email does have an 
    >> X-Mailing-List header added so that you can label based on list itself ... 
    >> is that what you mean, or are you thinking of something else entirely?
    > Something else: if automatic classification of articles was in place, there 
    > would be need of fewer mailing lists, depending on the quality of the 
    > classification.
    
    You've mentinoed this serveral time, but what *is* "autoclassication 
    of articles"?  or is this something you do on the gmail side of things?
    
    
    ----
    Marc G. Fournier                        Hub.Org Hosting Solutions S.A.
    scrappy@hub.org                                     http://www.hub.org
    
    Yahoo:yscrappy    Skype: hub.org    ICQ:7615664    MSN:scrappy@hub.org
    
    
  46. Re: List traffic

    Kevin Grittner <kevin.grittner@wicourts.gov> — 2010-05-14T16:20:19Z

    Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us> wrote:
     
    > I can't imagine that there's not going to need to be a "catchall"
    > list for problems that don't fit into any of the subcategories.
    > 
    > More generally, we already have most of the lists that you
    > suggest, and we already know that people frequently don't find the
    > most appropriate list for postings.  I don't think getting rid of
    > -general would help that in the least.  The way to cut down on
    > misposted traffic is to make the set of categories smaller and
    > simpler, not to redouble our efforts to persuade people to use the
    > same or even more categories.
     
    Well, redoubling our current efforts to direct people to more
    specific lists would accomplish nothing, since doubling zero leaves
    you with zero.  The description of -general includes:
     
    | General discussion area for users. Apart from compile, acceptance
    | test, and bug problems, most new users will probably only be
    | interested in this mailing list
     
    Given that, the fact that -admin, -novice, -sql, and -performance
    collectively get as many posts as -general suggests that people are,
    in fact, making some effort to find a list which seems a good fit. 
    Perhaps if the description of -general was changed to suggest it
    *was* a catch-all for posts which don't fit the other lists, things
    would improve.
     
    -Kevin
    
    
  47. Re: List traffic

    Josh Berkus <josh@agliodbs.com> — 2010-05-14T16:51:11Z

    >> There is no reason why advocacy can't happen on general. Theoretically
    >> www could be on hackers (although I do see the point of a separate
    >> list).
    
    First off, this is absolutely the wrong list to be discussing management 
    of PostgreSQL lists.  That belongs on pgsql-www.  And, I'll point out, 
    that this completely pointless discussion on the wrong list has been 1/6 
    of the traffic on -hackers for the last two days.  Also, I really don't 
    see what problem people think they're addressing with these bimonthly 
    calls for list consolidation.  It seems like a solution in search of a 
    problem.
    
    So it's an exercise in ironic wankitude.   Can we please stop it now?
    
    Second, regarding advocacy: no, absolutely not.  -advocacy is a working 
    list and not a virtual water cooler.
    
    -- 
                                       -- Josh Berkus
                                          PostgreSQL Experts Inc.
                                          http://www.pgexperts.com
    
    
  48. Re: List traffic

    Yeb Havinga <yebhavinga@gmail.com> — 2010-05-14T17:09:17Z

    Marc G. Fournier wrote:
    > On Fri, 14 May 2010, Yeb Havinga wrote:
    >
    >> Marc G. Fournier wrote:
    >>> On Thu, 13 May 2010, Alvaro Herrera wrote:
    >>>
    >>>> Excerpts from Yeb Havinga's message of jue may 13 15:06:53 -0400 2010:
    >>>>
    >>>>> My $0.02 - I like the whole 'don't sort, search' (or how did they 
    >>>>> call
    >>>>> it?) just let the inbox fill up, google is fast enough. What would be
    >>>>> really interesting is to have some extra 'tags/headers' added to the
    >>>>> emails (document classification with e.g. self organizing 
    >>>>> map/kohonen),
    >>>>> so my local filters could make labels based on that, instead of 
    >>>>> perhaps
    >>>>> badly spelled keywords in subjects or message body.
    >>>
    >>> I missed this when I read it the first time .. all list email does 
    >>> have an X-Mailing-List header added so that you can label based on 
    >>> list itself ... is that what you mean, or are you thinking of 
    >>> something else entirely?
    >> Something else: if automatic classification of articles was in place, 
    >> there would be need of fewer mailing lists, depending on the quality 
    >> of the classification.
    >
    > You've mentinoed this serveral time, but what *is* "autoclassication 
    > of articles"?  or is this something you do on the gmail side of things?
    I ment classification in the sense of automated as apposed to manual 
    classification by author or subscriber, in the general sense, not linked 
    to any mail client or server. Example: junk mail detection by mail client.
    
    After sending my previous mail this morning I looked a bit more into 
    (the faq of) carrot2, which links to LingPipe as a solution for people 
    that like pre-defined classes. LingPipe in fact has a tutorial where 
    they classify a dataset of newsgroups articles, see e.g. 
    http://alias-i.com/lingpipe/demos/tutorial/classify/read-me.html. I 
    suppose it would be interesting to see what could be done with the pg 
    archives. If the archive database itself is publically available, or 
    could be made available I'd be willing to put some time into this 
    (solely on the bases that I'm interested in the outcome, not that I 
    pursue that it'd be used by the pg project, though that'd ofcourse be 
    cool if it turned out that way in the end)
    
    regards,
    Yeb Havinga
    
    
    
  49. Re: List traffic

    Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> — 2010-05-14T17:42:30Z

    On Fri, 14 May 2010, Kevin Grittner wrote:
    
    > Well, redoubling our current efforts to direct people to more
    > specific lists would accomplish nothing, since doubling zero leaves
    > you with zero.  The description of -general includes:
    
    Agreed ...
    
    > Given that, the fact that -admin, -novice, -sql, and -performance 
    > collectively get as many posts as -general suggests that people are, in 
    > fact, making some effort to find a list which seems a good fit. Perhaps 
    > if the description of -general was changed to suggest it *was* a 
    > catch-all for posts which don't fit the other lists, things would 
    > improve.
    
    Can you offer improvd / stronger wording on this ... ?
    
    Marc G. Fournier                        Hub.Org Hosting Solutions S.A.
    scrappy@hub.org                                     http://www.hub.org
    
    Yahoo:yscrappy    Skype: hub.org    ICQ:7615664    MSN:scrappy@hub.org
    
    
  50. Re: List traffic

    Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> — 2010-05-14T19:10:17Z

    On Fri, 14 May 2010, Josh Berkus wrote:
    
    > First off, this is absolutely the wrong list to be discussing management of 
    > PostgreSQL lists.  That belongs on pgsql-www.
    
    Actually, this is as good a list as any ... -www is for WWW related 
    issues, not mailing list ... be as inappropriate there as it would be on 
    sysadmins, which also doesn't cover mailing lists ...
    
    > Second, regarding advocacy: no, absolutely not.  -advocacy is a working list 
    > and not a virtual water cooler.
    
    BTW, and even I totally forgot about it, but we do have a virtual water 
    cooler already: pgsql-chat ... 224 subscribers currently, just nobody uses 
    it ...
    
    In fact, I just removed / changed to BCC -hackers so that all further 
    discussions on this part of the thread will be on -chat ...
    
    ----
    Marc G. Fournier                        Hub.Org Hosting Solutions S.A.
    scrappy@hub.org                                     http://www.hub.org
    
    Yahoo:yscrappy    Skype: hub.org    ICQ:7615664    MSN:scrappy@hub.org
    
    
  51. Re: List traffic

    Selena Deckelmann <selenamarie@gmail.com> — 2010-05-14T19:15:28Z

    On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 9:51 AM, Josh Berkus <josh@agliodbs.com> wrote:
    
    > Second, regarding advocacy: no, absolutely not.  -advocacy is a working list
    > and not a virtual water cooler.
    
    +1. I would find it very difficult to manage having -advocacy thrown
    into -general.
    
    If folks think that information isn't getting wide enough
    distribution, that's one thing. But it is an important working group,
    even if there's not a ton of traffic all the time on it.
    
    -selena
    
    -- 
    http://chesnok.com/daily - me
    
    
  52. Re: [HACKERS] List traffic

    Kevin Grittner <kevin.grittner@wicourts.gov> — 2010-05-14T19:44:44Z

    [For anyone subscribed to the -chat list who didn't catch other
    posts -- this list has just been re-activated.  This discussion was
    just moved here from -hackers.]
     
    "Marc G. Fournier" <scrappy@hub.org> wrote:
    > On Fri, 14 May 2010, Kevin Grittner wrote:
     
    >> Given that, the fact that -admin, -novice, -sql, and
    >> -performance collectively get as many posts as -general suggests
    >> that people are, in fact, making some effort to find a list which
    >> seems a good fit. Perhaps if the description of -general was
    >> changed to suggest it *was* a catch-all for posts which don't fit
    >> the other lists, things would improve.
    > 
    > Can you offer improvd / stronger wording on this ... ?
     
    Well, I'm not the best wordsmith around, but maybe something like:
     
    General discussion area for users.  If there is no other list which
    seems to fit, post here.
     
    The note that many of the developers monitor should probably be
    placed ahead of a grouping of lists for which that is true. 
    -general is certainly not the only one, and only mentioning it for
    that list might cause people to post there rather than on a more
    specific list.
     
    -Kevin
    
    
  53. Re: List traffic

    Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us> — 2010-05-14T20:18:35Z

    Kevin Grittner wrote:
    > Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us> wrote:
    >  
    > > I can't imagine that there's not going to need to be a "catchall"
    > > list for problems that don't fit into any of the subcategories.
    > > 
    > > More generally, we already have most of the lists that you
    > > suggest, and we already know that people frequently don't find the
    > > most appropriate list for postings.  I don't think getting rid of
    > > -general would help that in the least.  The way to cut down on
    > > misposted traffic is to make the set of categories smaller and
    > > simpler, not to redouble our efforts to persuade people to use the
    > > same or even more categories.
    >  
    > Well, redoubling our current efforts to direct people to more
    > specific lists would accomplish nothing, since doubling zero leaves
    > you with zero.  The description of -general includes:
    >  
    > | General discussion area for users. Apart from compile, acceptance
    > | test, and bug problems, most new users will probably only be
    > | interested in this mailing list
    >  
    > Given that, the fact that -admin, -novice, -sql, and -performance
    > collectively get as many posts as -general suggests that people are,
    > in fact, making some effort to find a list which seems a good fit. 
    > Perhaps if the description of -general was changed to suggest it
    > *was* a catch-all for posts which don't fit the other lists, things
    > would improve.
    
    FYI, I usually email new people privately that cross-posting a question
    can cause the question to be ignored.  They usually respond positively
    and avoid it in the future.
    
    -- 
      Bruce Momjian  <bruce@momjian.us>        http://momjian.us
      EnterpriseDB                             http://enterprisedb.com
    
    
  54. Re: [HACKERS] List traffic

    Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> — 2010-05-14T20:21:38Z

    On Fri, 14 May 2010, Bruce Momjian wrote:
    
    > FYI, I usually email new people privately that cross-posting a question 
    > can cause the question to be ignored.  They usually respond positively 
    > and avoid it in the future.
    
    We all have our own methods ... for instance, I just CC'd this to -chat 
    with a -BCC to -hackers so that follow ups will go over there (since Josh 
    is right, this thread doesn't belong on -hackers) ...
    
    ----
    Marc G. Fournier                        Hub.Org Hosting Solutions S.A.
    scrappy@hub.org                                     http://www.hub.org
    
    Yahoo:yscrappy    Skype: hub.org    ICQ:7615664    MSN:scrappy@hub.org
    
    
  55. Re: List traffic

    Kevin Grittner <kevin.grittner@wicourts.gov> — 2010-05-14T21:09:21Z

    Greg Stark <gsstark@mit.edu> wrote: 
     
    > If they're interested in performance topics and they're not
    > subscribed to -general then they're missing *most* of what they're
    > interested in which doesn't take place on -performance.
     
    Well, I for one can't currently suck the end of the fire hose which
    is -general, and would be less able to do so should other lists be
    folded into it.  So I lurk on -bugs, -performance, -admin, and
    others -- not to glean information so much as to attempt to respond
    in areas where I feel I might be able to be helpful and, with a bit
    of luck, take some of the burden off of those who do the most to
    help people on these lists.  Combining lists will only make it
    harder for me to attempt to assist in this way.
     
    > And most of what's on -performance ends up being non-performance
    > related questions anyways.
     
    I don't believe you.  Scanning this:
     
    http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-performance/2010-05/index.php
     
    I see a few non-performance questions, but they're clearly a small
    fraction of the traffic.
     
    > I think what I'm getting at is that we shouldn't have any lists
    > for traffic which could reasonably happen on -general.
     
    I think that's exactly backwards -- we shouldn't have any traffic on
    -general for issues which could reasonably happen in another list. 
    You can always configure your email to combine lists into a common
    folder upon receipt.
     
    -Kevin
    
    
  56. Re: [HACKERS] List traffic

    Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> — 2010-05-15T03:23:50Z

    [moved to -chat]
    
    On Fri, 14 May 2010, Kevin Grittner wrote:
    
    > I think that's exactly backwards -- we shouldn't have any traffic on 
    > -general for issues which could reasonably happen in another list. You 
    > can always configure your email to combine lists into a common folder 
    > upon receipt.
    
    *Exactly* ... the thought that we should increase the volume on any one of 
    the lists seems counter-productive, but, I guess is the @postgresql.org 
    mailing lists are the only ones that someone participats into, maybe they 
    hae enough time to keep up on *all* of the email ... ?
    
    
    
    ----
    Marc G. Fournier                        Hub.Org Hosting Solutions S.A.
    scrappy@hub.org                                     http://www.hub.org
    
    Yahoo:yscrappy    Skype: hub.org    ICQ:7615664    MSN:scrappy@hub.org
    
    
  57. Re: List traffic

    Jaime Casanova <jaime@2ndquadrant.com> — 2010-05-15T05:13:15Z

    On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 8:39 AM, Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> wrote:
    >
    > And IMHO, that is as much a fault of the 'old timers' on the lists as the
    > newbies ... if nobody redirects / loosely enforces the mandates of the
    > various lists, newbies aren't going to learn to post to more appropriate
    > ones ...
    >
    
    oh! yeah! that's easy... you say: hey maybe that list is better for
    your question... and suddenly you're a piece of crap that should never
    answer a mail
    
    most people are not prepared to understand the concept of more than
    one list for project... what i personally do in the spanish list is to
    read (and when i can) answer questions that have the less or none
    answers first, then those that Alvaro has not commented yet and last
    if i have time the other ones and then i read the subjects of the
    threads in the other lists if something pop up read the thread and
    "mark as read" everything else
    
    -- 
    Jaime Casanova         www.2ndQuadrant.com
    Soporte y capacitación de PostgreSQL
    
    
  58. Re: List traffic

    Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> — 2010-05-15T06:38:32Z

    On Sat, 15 May 2010, Jaime Casanova wrote:
    
    > On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 8:39 AM, Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> wrote:
    >>
    >> And IMHO, that is as much a fault of the 'old timers' on the lists as the
    >> newbies ... if nobody redirects / loosely enforces the mandates of the
    >> various lists, newbies aren't going to learn to post to more appropriate
    >> ones ...
    >>
    >
    > oh! yeah! that's easy... you say: hey maybe that list is better for
    > your question... and suddenly you're a piece of crap that should never
    > answer a mail
    >
    > most people are not prepared to understand the concept of more than
    > one list for project...
    
    Apparently you don't use very many large projects ... FreeBSD has 20+ 
    lists, dedicated to various aspects of both end user and developer ... I 
    imagine Linux has *as many if not more* ... MySQL, if memory servers, has 
    a half dozen or more ... etc ...
    
    ----
    Marc G. Fournier                        Hub.Org Hosting Solutions S.A.
    scrappy@hub.org                                     http://www.hub.org
    
    Yahoo:yscrappy    Skype: hub.org    ICQ:7615664    MSN:scrappy@hub.org
    
    
  59. Re: List traffic

    Rob Wultsch <wultsch@gmail.com> — 2010-05-15T06:50:13Z

    > Linux has *as many if not more* ... MySQL, if memory servers, has a half
    > dozen or more ... etc ...
    
    MySQL has a bunch of lists, none of which get much traffic. Honestly,
    they should probably be combined.
    
    -- 
    Rob Wultsch
    
    
  60. Re: [HACKERS] List traffic

    Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> — 2010-05-15T07:51:53Z

    [redirected to -chat]
    
    On Fri, 14 May 2010, Rob Wultsch wrote:
    
    >> Linux has *as many if not more* ... MySQL, if memory servers, has a half
    >> dozen or more ... etc ...
    >
    > MySQL has a bunch of lists, none of which get much traffic. Honestly,
    > they should probably be combined.
    
    Except, when you do post, ppl see it ...
    
    ----
    Marc G. Fournier                        Hub.Org Hosting Solutions S.A.
    scrappy@hub.org                                     http://www.hub.org
    
    Yahoo:yscrappy    Skype: hub.org    ICQ:7615664    MSN:scrappy@hub.org
    
    
  61. Re: List traffic

    Rob Wultsch <wultsch@gmail.com> — 2010-05-15T13:37:12Z

    On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 11:50 PM, Rob Wultsch <wultsch@gmail.com> wrote:
    >> Linux has *as many if not more* ... MySQL, if memory servers, has a half
    >> dozen or more ... etc ...
    >
    > MySQL has a bunch of lists, none of which get much traffic. Honestly,
    > they should probably be combined.
    >
    > --
    > Rob Wultsch
    
    "They" was referring to the various low traffic MySQL lists which in
    my opinion does not work. As far as Linux, when I briefly subscribed
    to the kernel mailing list there was such a volume of traffic that it
    was difficult to manage as a noob.
    
    I do not have an opinion about PG. I think that those two examples
    could be seen as how not to run email lists effectively.
    
    -- 
    Rob Wultsch
    wultsch@gmail.com
    
    
  62. Re: [HACKERS] List traffic

    Robert Treat <xzilla@users.sourceforge.net> — 2010-05-15T17:58:03Z

    On Saturday 15 May 2010 03:51:53 Marc G. Fournier wrote:
    > [redirected to -chat]
    >
    > On Fri, 14 May 2010, Rob Wultsch wrote:
    > >> Linux has *as many if not more* ... MySQL, if memory servers, has a half
    > >> dozen or more ... etc ...
    > >
    > > MySQL has a bunch of lists, none of which get much traffic. Honestly,
    > > they should probably be combined.
    >
    > Except, when you do post, ppl see it ...
    >
    
    I was just scratching my head trying to figure out how this thread ended up in 
    my inbox, rather than being safely ignored on -hackers where I had left it, 
    and it hit me; someone cc'd pgsql-chat on this. So at least one person sees 
    the emails that go to this list :-)
    
    -- 
    Robert Treat
    Conjecture: http://www.xzilla.net
    Consulting: http://www.omniti.com
    
    
  63. Re: List traffic

    Greg Stark <gsstark@mit.edu> — 2010-05-27T15:38:44Z

    On Sat, May 15, 2010 at 7:38 AM, Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> wrote:
    >> most people are not prepared to understand the concept of more than
    >> one list for project...
    >
    > Apparently you don't use very many large projects ... FreeBSD has 20+ lists,
    > dedicated to various aspects of both end user and developer ... I imagine
    > Linux has *as many if not more* ... MySQL, if memory servers, has a half
    > dozen or more ... etc ...
    
    Sure, if we have distinctions which make sense then having separate
    lists makes sense. Linux has separate lists for different drivers,
    different parts of the kernel, projects to improve the kernel in
    various specific ways (latency, etc). I'm all for having a list
    dedicated to infrastructure (oddly named -www here) and a list
    dedicated to printing flyers and arranging conferences (-advocacy)
    since those topics are usually well defined. Lists like -ecpg or -odbc
    would work fine if the traffic warranted them.
    
    But some of the lists we have now are 99% overlap with each other -- I
    claim because the definitions are meaningless. What part of postgres
    discussion (aside from this thread) *don't* relate in some way to SQL?
    Or administration? Or performance? Most performance problems end up
    being solved by adjusting SQL or changing GUCs. Mot administration
    questions are originally posed as general help questions. If you're
    subscribed to these lists you get a random, fairly small, subset of
    discussion related these topics.
    
    Perhaps what I'm looking for is a more sensible division that allows
    most of the traffic related to the subtopics to actually go there. It
    would have to be a division so clearcut that anyone who doesn't follow
    could reasonably be blamed for not following etiquette. That's simply
    not true with the current divisions.
    
    -- 
    greg
    
    
  64. Re: List traffic

    Marc G. Fournier <scrappy@hub.org> — 2010-05-27T15:52:28Z

    On Thu, 27 May 2010, Greg Stark wrote:
    
    > Sure, if we have distinctions which make sense then having separate
    > lists makes sense. Linux has separate lists for different drivers,
    > different parts of the kernel, projects to improve the kernel in
    > various specific ways (latency, etc). I'm all for having a list
    > dedicated to infrastructure (oddly named -www here)
    
    Actually, infrastructure is appropriately discussed on -sysadmins ... web 
    is on -www ... tends to be a bit of overlap since -sysadmins was added 
    later, and prior to that we did discuss on -www ...
    
    > since those topics are usually well defined. Lists like -ecpg or -odbc
    > would work fine if the traffic warranted them.
    
    I don't agree with the comment about 'if traffic warranted them' though 
    ... the fact that there is very little traffic should be what makes them 
    attractive / useful ... you don't have to weed through alot of posts to 
    find the odbc/ecpg related ones ...
    
    > Perhaps what I'm looking for is a more sensible division that allows 
    > most of the traffic related to the subtopics to actually go there. It 
    > would have to be a division so clearcut that anyone who doesn't follow 
    > could reasonably be blamed for not following etiquette. That's simply 
    > not true with the current divisions.
    
    how about something -sql vs -tuning ... ?  -tuning replacing -performance, 
    which I do agree could be sql *or* server ... where -tuning would be more 
    obviously server related ...
    
    ----
    Marc G. Fournier                        Hub.Org Hosting Solutions S.A.
    scrappy@hub.org                                     http://www.hub.org
    
    Yahoo:yscrappy    Skype: hub.org    ICQ:7615664    MSN:scrappy@hub.org
    
    
  65. Re: List traffic

    Josh Berkus <josh@agliodbs.com> — 2010-05-27T18:11:51Z

    On 5/27/10 8:38 AM, Greg Stark wrote:
    > Lists like -ecpg or -odbc
    > would work fine if the traffic warranted them.
    
    A low-traffic list is a feature, not a bug.  Most people don't *like*
    subscribing to lists which have 80posts/day.
    
    > But some of the lists we have now are 99% overlap with each other -- I
    > claim because the definitions are meaningless. What part of postgres
    > discussion (aside from this thread) *don't* relate in some way to SQL?
    > Or administration? Or performance? Most performance problems end up
    > being solved by adjusting SQL or changing GUCs. 
    
    This is a set theory fallacy.  While most performance issues are
    administration issues as well, it is NOT therefore true that most
    administration issues are also performance issues.  In fact, I'd say
    that the -performance list does an excellent job of sticking to
    troubleshooting performance issues only.  And for someone who has a
    performance issue, and does not want to field 100 emails about "can't
    install Postgre", that's a feature.
    
    > Mot administration
    > questions are originally posed as general help questions. If you're
    > subscribed to these lists you get a random, fairly small, subset of
    > discussion related these topics.
    
    Only someone who is a postgresql developer would consider 15-30
    posts/day "small".  For most of our user base, the level of traffic on
    -performance, -sql, and -general is already too high and many people
    don't subscribe to these lists because it is too high.  I get complaints
    -- and people personal-sending me questions because they don't want to
    subscribe -- all the time.
    
    Having fewer posts on any particular list is *desireable*.  It's a good
    thing.  It's *only* a problem when a bug report or user question goes
    unanswered because the list is unattended.  And so far, I've only seen
    one report of that.
    
    -- 
                                      -- Josh Berkus
                                         PostgreSQL Experts Inc.
                                         http://www.pgexperts.com
    
    
  66. Re: List traffic

    Alvaro Herrera <alvherre@commandprompt.com> — 2010-05-27T19:29:28Z

    Excerpts from Josh Berkus's message of jue may 27 14:11:51 -0400 2010:
    
    > Only someone who is a postgresql developer would consider 15-30
    > posts/day "small".  For most of our user base, the level of traffic on
    > -performance, -sql, and -general is already too high and many people
    > don't subscribe to these lists because it is too high.  I get complaints
    > -- and people personal-sending me questions because they don't want to
    > subscribe -- all the time.
    
    People can post without being subscribed, and most people around here
    will CC them when they reply.  That's supposed to be a feature of our
    lists.  Maybe when you receive such a question you can forward it to a
    list CCing the person.
    
    Not that I disagree with your opinion that a smaller list is desirable.
    I think collapsing lists into -general or whatever would be a terrible idea.
    
    -- 
    Álvaro Herrera <alvherre@commandprompt.com>
    The PostgreSQL Company - Command Prompt, Inc.
    PostgreSQL Replication, Consulting, Custom Development, 24x7 support
    
    
  67. Re: List traffic

    Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us> — 2010-05-27T20:08:34Z

    Josh Berkus <josh@agliodbs.com> writes:
    > On 5/27/10 8:38 AM, Greg Stark wrote:
    >> Mot administration
    >> questions are originally posed as general help questions. If you're
    >> subscribed to these lists you get a random, fairly small, subset of
    >> discussion related these topics.
    
    > Only someone who is a postgresql developer would consider 15-30
    > posts/day "small".  For most of our user base, the level of traffic on
    > -performance, -sql, and -general is already too high and many people
    > don't subscribe to these lists because it is too high.  I get complaints
    > -- and people personal-sending me questions because they don't want to
    > subscribe -- all the time.
    
    > Having fewer posts on any particular list is *desireable*.  It's a good
    > thing.  It's *only* a problem when a bug report or user question goes
    > unanswered because the list is unattended.  And so far, I've only seen
    > one report of that.
    
    Well, there's no free lunch.  If we have a whole lot of "small" lists
    there are going to be two big downsides: fewer people reading each list
    (hence fewer answers), and many more arguably-misclassified postings,
    thus diluting the theoretical targetedness of the lists.
    
    If you want good answers to questions you need to post them in a forum
    where there are enough people to ensure someone will know the answer
    (and have the time/interest to respond).  People who want answers and
    don't want to have to read other discussions should consider obtaining
    commercial support.
    
    			regards, tom lane
    
    
  68. Re: List traffic

    Josh Berkus <josh@agliodbs.com> — 2010-05-28T00:36:12Z

    > Well, there's no free lunch.  If we have a whole lot of "small" lists
    > there are going to be two big downsides: fewer people reading each list
    > (hence fewer answers), and many more arguably-misclassified postings,
    > thus diluting the theoretical targetedness of the lists.
    
    You're missing my point.  I'm saying that people *are* gettings answers 
    on the -sql and -performance lists, that those lists are very busy, and 
    that consolidating them with other lists would just drive people away 
    due to traffic volume.  And that nobody who is suggesting list 
    consolidation has presented any evidence to the contrary other than a 
    *single* missed bug report.  Data is not the plural of anecdote.
    
    I'm *not* suggesting that we create more lists just because, either.
    
    Again, this whole discussion is a solution in search of a problem. 
    Someone wants to mess with our list organization just because they are 
    bored.  If they're that bored, I understand that the web team could use 
    some help.  Or they could review patches.
    
    We do not have a problem.   The lists are fine the way they are.
    
    -- 
                                       -- Josh Berkus
                                          PostgreSQL Experts Inc.
                                          http://www.pgexperts.com
    
    
  69. Re: List traffic

    Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us> — 2010-05-28T00:42:09Z

    Josh Berkus <josh@agliodbs.com> writes:
    > We do not have a problem.   The lists are fine the way they are.
    
    +1 ... wasn't the point I thought you were trying to make, but I'm
    good with not changing things.
    
    			regards, tom lane
    
    
  70. Re: List traffic

    Josh Berkus <josh@agliodbs.com> — 2010-05-28T20:44:47Z

    On 5/27/10 5:42 PM, Tom Lane wrote:
    > Josh Berkus <josh@agliodbs.com> writes:
    >> We do not have a problem.   The lists are fine the way they are.
    > 
    > +1 ... wasn't the point I thought you were trying to make, but I'm
    > good with not changing things.
    
    Yeah, that's because I was responding to the suggestion that 5 of our
    lists should be collapsed into 'general' as the One Uber-List.
    
    -- 
                                      -- Josh Berkus
                                         PostgreSQL Experts Inc.
                                         http://www.pgexperts.com
    
    
  71. Re: List traffic

    Jaime Casanova <jaime@2ndquadrant.com> — 2010-05-28T21:22:37Z

    On Fri, May 28, 2010 at 3:44 PM, Josh Berkus <josh@agliodbs.com> wrote:
    > On 5/27/10 5:42 PM, Tom Lane wrote:
    >> Josh Berkus <josh@agliodbs.com> writes:
    >>> We do not have a problem.   The lists are fine the way they are.
    >>
    >> +1 ... wasn't the point I thought you were trying to make, but I'm
    >> good with not changing things.
    >
    > Yeah, that's because I was responding to the suggestion that 5 of our
    > lists should be collapsed into 'general' as the One Uber-List.
    >
    
    i think not all should be collapsed but at least -novice, IMHO
    
    -- 
    Jaime Casanova         www.2ndQuadrant.com
    Soporte y capacitación de PostgreSQL