Newbie specific portal/forum?!

CyberTron · 2005-09-02 17:24:32

Hi, been a while since I posted in the forums...
however

I have started a portal/foruml for newbies, and was thinking on asking if you guys wanted to get rid of your newbies, "transfer" (redirect) them to me...and when they are ready (for more advanced stuff) then they can join the real archlinux forums...

maybe that way we can get rid of all those negative feelings that are circulating around the forums from time to time

is this a good or bad idea?

pros/cons?

please no flaming in ths thread...I am simple offering my services and if you guys think it is a bad idea, then we simple don't do it

Edit: Fixed some typos

cactus · 2005-09-02 17:48:01

I don't know how I feel about something like this. On the one hand, it would indeed be nice to have a group that was willing to answer the same questions over and over, deal with helping people take their first steps, and so forth (admittedly a thankless job at times, but a very important one).

But in the same breath, I think a seperation of such a group from the core of arch users is not such a good idea. It divides the community, and actually makes it harder for a user to find information..
Does joe user search in the arch forums, the linuxportelen forums, the wiki, the bugtracker, the mailing list, ask in irc, or all of the above?

Seperation is generally good for organizational purposes, but such a significant seperation along the lines of something as ephemeral as "user skill level" gains little organizational benefit.

I would propose that instead, the newbie portion of this forum should be perhaps a little better managed, and have a few users/moderators devoted solely to that section. I think posts that are more newbie oriented, should be moved to that forum section, so they can more easily be found later..

I also think we should hold new users to a bit of a higher standard than labeling them "newbie" off the bat. Many new Archers are longtime users of other distributions, that are just seeking "a bit more". Remember, Arch, as a distribution, assumes that you have a bit of skill to start out with. The Arch target demographic is not really geared to "the grandmother off the street". But still, integration of new members, and the initiation of them, is important. They need to know where things are, how to use things, etc.

but..I am just a prickly desert plant in search of some water to soak up...what do I know?

So, I guess in summation...I wish you luck, but fear it may be somewhat detrimental to Arch as a whole if you should succeed.

CyberTron · 2005-09-02 18:04:28

thanks for the fast reply cactus

I understand your concern and I respect it...

lets see what the other people says as well,

my forums will probably be open in either case, since I am trying to create a haven for newbies (for all kinds of distributions)

dtw · 2005-09-02 20:48:50

I would prefer that we formulated a scheme to answer those FAQs - if we were all abit more aware of the need to document and highlight repeat problems/issues we could do something to help address that.

One of the forum mods I am looking at will put a news section on the homepage - I hope that this will help highlight current issues in an obvious way e.g. the udev and sysctl.cfg issue, the archck ALSA issue we just had, just those small things. If we could stay on top of that as a team and really raise awareness of these issues at the time we wopuld be much more better off. At the moment we are far to introverted, "someone else will answer that question again, someone else will update the wiki,..." I am like it myself. The wiki is there for documentation but I hope to get that "current issues" mod for the forum going pretty soon - it's top of my list

xerxes2 · 2005-09-02 21:45:08

this is not a bad idea, i was just about to sign up when I saw it,

windows

Kern · 2005-09-02 22:12:36

dont whine Xerx !
windows, can be useful.
best left open in the sunshine, closed in the rain and curtained if you have nosey neighbours.

:twisted:

ozar · 2005-09-02 22:22:22

Newbie specific portal/forum?!

I thought the "Newbie Corner" forum right here at Arch Linux Forums was for that purpose.

On the other hand, I think that anyone should be able to open their own website and forums with an Arch section in it, as long as they understand that it won't necessarily receive the "official" tag from Judd and crew (unless, of course, it's approved as such).

CyberTron · 2005-09-03 07:29:03

xerxes2 wrote:

this is not a bad idea, i was just about to sign up when I saw it,
windows

I use windows right now, I am not against it, but I don't like it either, bu right now I am forced to use it...because of my work

agilyben · 2005-09-03 10:34:36

I don't think that splitting up the ArchLinux community needs to be done. Most things are already covered in the forums and wiki pretty well. I would suggest volunteering here, the wiki, etc...To build the community stronger and not separate it.

Dibble is working on forum mods, and maybe having some newbie faqs on the front page would be helpful for new users, but I don't think splitting them off would be very beneficial to the community at all.

The vast majority of Arch users have used previous distributions and just need a little nudge in the right direction to find things the Arch way. For the complete 'linux' newbies, they just need a little hand-holding to help them through some things once in a while.

I feel that the Arch community is a 'great' community of users. Sure, it may get a little tiresome once in a while, seeing the same questions asked over and over. But....I don't think anyone in the Arch community really minds helping them out...They had the cahonies to give Arch a try first instead of a "newbie" distro! More power to them!

Just my 2 cents.....

nightfrost · 2005-09-03 14:26:30

Just thought I'd throw my two cents in. I've been thinking about a separate newbie forum as well, but after reading this thread I think I agree with those who propose better management of the newbie corner here. I will myself try to check the newbie section more often from now on to do what I can.

Also, I think the idea dibble mentions about a news section that highlights current issues would be great to have.

Finally, we should work on documentation/wiki (which I must say feels alot better now after mediawiki is up and running )

dtw · 2005-09-03 14:45:38

Please visit the demo site for a preview of the new mods - there is a great selection of search mods to encourage self-help too

You can also help by signing up and starting some threads to test out the mods

http://www.jiwe.org/phpbb/

tomk · 2005-09-03 21:48:16

We were all newbies once, right? And I distinctly remember disliking newb-designated boards. Instead, I liked the feeling of lurking around people who obviously knew what they were talking about, and trying to make some sense of my problems in that kind of context. When I started to post, I often got either no response, or some terse advice about asking smart questions, using Google, or whatever, but generally I came away with the impression that I need to do as much as possible for myself, and be as clear as possible about everything.

Now I'm here, which means I have chosen an explicitly non-newbie distro. The attributes required of potential Archers are laid out reasonably clearly, and I always bear them in mind when reading or responding to newbie posts - because Arch newbies aren't linux newbies, are they?

I also remember the feeling when I was able to help someone else for the first time - I'm sure I was still a newbie, but from then on I felt less newb, and more confident. That would have been less likely to happen if I had been coralled into some newb ghetto, to await crumbs of wisdom from on high.

So in short, separation bad, integration good. To any newbies out there, I say bring it on, but do your homework first, and don't expect any handholding.

sepht · 2005-09-04 01:49:08

awww, but handholding is the best part!

CyberTron · 2005-09-13 08:12:30

ok, thanks for all your answers, I have decided not to do an archlinux-newbie forum, instead I go for a Swedish ArchLinux forum (well, not only archlinux..but mostly )

So thanks again for all help

the page is located at: http://www.linuxportalen.com

althhough it is automatically trying to decide the language of the site, it's primary language is Swedish..

Bysshe · 2005-09-13 20:00:37

tomk wrote:

We were all newbies once, right? And I distinctly remember disliking newb-designated boards. Instead, I liked the feeling of lurking around people who obviously knew what they were talking about, and trying to make some sense of my problems in that kind of context. When I started to post, I often got either no response, or some terse advice about asking smart questions, using Google, or whatever, but generally I came away with the impression that I need to do as much as possible for myself, and be as clear as possible about everything.
Now I'm here, which means I have chosen an explicitly non-newbie distro. The attributes required of potential Archers are laid out reasonably clearly, and I always bear them in mind when reading or responding to newbie posts - because Arch newbies aren't linux newbies, are they?
I also remember the feeling when I was able to help someone else for the first time - I'm sure I was still a newbie, but from then on I felt less newb, and more confident. That would have been less likely to happen if I had been coralled into some newb ghetto, to await crumbs of wisdom from on high.
So in short, separation bad, integration good. To any newbies out there, I say bring it on, but do your homework first, and don't expect any handholding.

HA! I know what you're saying. The couple of years I've been very lightly dabbling with Linux goobstros, the newbie forums are just a pure slaughterhouse. It's just impossible to learn anything there. Part of this is trying to support all distributions. It took me longer than most people to get over the initial shock, I think, but with the ability to make connections with how things work, and important terms, etc., man it's just so nice to go...here.

Duh, yeah, I've never heard of Google. Ha, ha. But if you actually think kowing the diet of a penguin is by typing motor oil into google, well, there you are, and there I've been on many occasion.

But, yeah, it is important. I picked up some habits like you speak of, though sometimes I come across as lazy... Some stupid questions are exhuastion induced.

Arch Linux

#1 2005-09-02 17:24:32

Newbie specific portal/forum?!

#2 2005-09-02 17:48:01

Re: Newbie specific portal/forum?!

#3 2005-09-02 18:04:28

Re: Newbie specific portal/forum?!

#4 2005-09-02 20:48:50

Re: Newbie specific portal/forum?!

#5 2005-09-02 21:45:08

Re: Newbie specific portal/forum?!

#6 2005-09-02 22:12:36

Re: Newbie specific portal/forum?!

#7 2005-09-02 22:22:22

Re: Newbie specific portal/forum?!

#8 2005-09-03 07:29:03

Re: Newbie specific portal/forum?!

#9 2005-09-03 10:34:36

Re: Newbie specific portal/forum?!

#10 2005-09-03 14:26:30

Re: Newbie specific portal/forum?!

#11 2005-09-03 14:45:38

Re: Newbie specific portal/forum?!

#12 2005-09-03 21:48:16

Re: Newbie specific portal/forum?!

#13 2005-09-04 01:49:08

Re: Newbie specific portal/forum?!

#14 2005-09-13 08:12:30

Re: Newbie specific portal/forum?!

#15 2005-09-13 20:00:37

Re: Newbie specific portal/forum?!

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