Re: fascinating article on postgresql mailing lists

On Feb 11, 2013, at 2:17 PM, "Daniel Verite" <daniel@manitou-mail.org> =
wrote:

>     Vincent Veyron wrote:
>=20
>> I find it strange that=20
>>=20
>> 'Probability that a new thread gets a response'=20
>>=20
>> sits below 60% for the 'general' list
>=20
> This seems indeed too low.
>=20
> I happen to collect these messages in a database since mid-2005. As a =
point
> of comparison, the numbers I get until today for pgsql-general are =
3348
> messages that appear to be outside of any thread (no "In-Reply-To" =
field or
> "References" field that points to it, and subject does not start with =
"Re:"),
> the total number of messages being 110233, in 19855 distinct threads.
>=20
> So at least in this time period, I can't see how it could be said that
> there's a 40% probability of not getting a reply. If we consider that =
there
> are 3348 failed attempts at spawning a thread vs 19855 successful =
attempts,
> the ratio would be about 6:1, or a 17% probability of getting no =
public
> response.
>=20


Welcome to the perception of the outsider.  I am in infrequent poster =
here, but in my 6 years of doing PostgreSQL for Mac, I get 3-4 emails a =
week asking for help on PostgreSQL issues that contain some variation of =
the phrase 'I posted to a PostgreSQL <forum/mailinglist/channel> and got =
no response'.  Considering that I monitor many of those same venues, I =
can honestly say that I have almost never seen the original posts, even =
upon further looking.=20

I suspect there are many reasons.  Anecdotal evidence hints to me that =
in many cases, that phrase so oft repeated is just a cover.  They didn't =
post, for fear of ridicule, and are going private to avoid public =
embarrassment.  Articles like this do much the same, and serve only to =
create more fear that the mailing lists are useless.

Given that, while it is good to be aware of things like this article, I =
would not put too much faith in either the numbers or the conclusions.  =
In my time around the community, there is no more welcoming community =
surrounding an active, healthy Open Source Software project out there.

D