[FFmpeg-devel] [RFC] Make the user help mailing lists subscription only

[Thilo Borgmann]

Hi,

> Am 19.07.2018 um 21:41 schrieb Lou Logan <lou at lrcd.com>:
> 
>> On Wed, Jul 18, 2018, at 3:32 AM, Gyan Doshi wrote:
>> 
>> What's the volume of messages from non-subscribers relative to subscribers?
> 
> I'm not sure. I never did keep a running tally. I may be able to figure it out via the logs if I were motivated enough.
> 
> However, I can provide some limited info between 28 June - 17 July. I believe these were the messages I approved:
> 
> [FFmpeg-user] How to have ffmpeg use parallel processing when searching through a single video
>    Reply by Carl. No response by OP.
> [FFmpeg-user] Multi-Channel Audio Limitations?
>    Reply by Carl. No response by OP.
> [FFmpeg-user] Decoding frames as fast as possible
>    Reply by Carl. No response by OP.
> [FFmpeg-user] need help on making ffmpeg x64 for UWP
>    Reply by Carl. No response by OP.
> [FFmpeg-user] ffmpeg automation
>    Reply by Cley. No response by OP.
> [FFmpeg-user] Attempting to hardcode subtitles - no subtitles are present
>    Reply by Carl. No response by OP.
> [FFmpeg-user] Question regarding FFmpeg copyright
>    Multiple replies. No response by OP.
> [FFmpeg-user] Need old version ffmpeg win32 shared of Windows 32-bit Builds
>    Reply by Moritz. No response by OP.
> [FFmpeg-user] Output file #0 does not contain any stream
>    Reply by Moritz. No response by OP.
> [FFmpeg-user] Running out of RAM when copying 1080p H264 stream
>    Send-subscribe-resend duplicate.
> [FFmpeg-user] FFMPEG- Buffers
> [FFmpeg-user] how to use Intel qsv codec for ffmpeg 4.0 
> Re: [FFmpeg-user] FFserver doesn't work with HLS
>    Non-verbatim duplicate.
> [FFmpeg-user] [Add sei_user_data while encoding a h264 stream]
> Re: [FFmpeg-user] Send audio to Axis encoder and change http_post header
>    An "I'm having the same issue" reply to an old message.
> [FFmpeg-user] Input from FIFO for Multiple Video Track
> [FFmpeg-user] using ffmpeg launcher
> 
> Out of 17 approved messages 9 got a reply or replies. Out of those 9 there were 0 followup replies by the original posters. Not encouraging.
> 
> If these users received all messages they would be more likely to see replies to their messages.
> 
>> One issue I see with subscriptions is that the typical 'customer' of 
>> *-users is someone only interested in solving their problem. Receiving a 
>> bunch of unrelated messages every day, when one has only a narrow and 
>> temporary concern with ffmpeg, is annoying.
> 
> Yes, it may be annoying, but it can easily be managed by simple client-side email filtering which should be an accessible and perhaps even familiar option for most users these days (filtering is recommended by the Mailing List FAQ), and they can easily unsubscribe/suspend delivery at will.
> 
> More annoying, in my opinion, is spending time answering a message that will likely never be read. There always are more questions than answers. We are just volunteers and only have limited time to answer an unending stream of questions across various resources (mailing lists, IRC, various third party forums, Stack Exchange, etc), as I'm sure you are familiar with.
> 
>> When the list receives a message from a first-time non-subscriber user, 
>> can Mailman either auto-subscribe them or send out an email with a link 
>> to a pre-filled subscription page ? Just thinking of ways to reduce 
>> friction or annoyance for someone who's just discovered the ML and wants 
>> to post a query.
> 
> I appreciate the suggestions, but the problem is spam. There is lots of it every day. If an address is auto-subscribed we would be inundated. As for the link, users do get a reply telling them their message is in the queue and requires approval. Don't know about a pre-filled subscription page.

As long as we can‘t configure it to send thread-only replies to unsubscribed users there is hardly an option at hand IMHO.

Having users to subscribe to mailing lists is a burden but I think the impression the non-subscribers get (no replies even if there are some) is even worse - feeling ignored...

So basically I support to make the lists subscribe only. 

-Thilo