unordained wrote:

>> you can also make a custom version (which could be used for Firebird
>> exclusively) via http://www.stackexchange.com It is still in Beta,
>> and new signups are currently "on hold", but it will be open for new
>> registrations again.
> ------- End of Original Message -------
>
> By custom, you mostly mean a walled garden, yes?

No. I mean that you can limit the topics to be firebird related.

> Questions do get answers, absolutely! Sadly, for me to point out that a lot of
> good questions don't get answered would require me to sound like I'm whining
> about my own questions.

Well, at least on stackovewflow it is quite evident which good question
(good determined by votes) has not been answered (determined by none of
the answers being accepted).

> The search functionality offered by yahoo-groups is atrocious.

Agreed.

> meant "meaningful conversation" differently -- more of a "full discussion of
> the problem", as when people ask follow-up questions, look for better solutions
> than the one the questioner is trying to fix, etc. -- and I agree, those should
> be encouraged.

Yes, that's what I meant. Incentives are also different. On mailing
list, you genuinely want to help your peer to solve the problem. On SO,
you really want to get points for you answer. It is very common on SO
that some answers that are "popular with the crowd" but not quite
accurate get many more votes.

> thinking along the lines of a "clean-up" process; after you solve the problem
> (thoroughly, slowly, with conversation) come back and give a summary that's
> useful to someone reading the digest, or searching the archive, or looking
> through an FAQ, or a problem-solving wizard. But after, not during.

Well, you can't force people to do that. When someone gets a solution to
their problem, they just move on. The only problem I see with current
approach is that newer generations of developers don't have the same
habits as old school. Younger folks have grown up alongside Internet
from day one, and they expect to be able to find anything on the web.
Subscribing to a mailing list and asking a question there is something
they need to learn about, because they are not used to that.

--
Milan Babuskov

==================================
The easiest way to import XML, CSV
and textual files into Firebird:
http://www.guacosoft.com/xmlwizard
==================================