CentOS - Feb 2021 - Challenging times in trying to access oracle Linux documentation

On Feb 5, 2021, at 23:24, Frank Cox <theatre at sasktel.net>
wrote:
> We'll see discussion of Rocky Linux and Oracle Linux ramping up on this
mailing list over the course of the next year for the above reason.  You can
stamp your little feet and say that such things don't belong here, or the
better option is to read what you're interested in and participate in the
discussions. Ignoring anything non-Centos and reading only Centos-specific
threads will likely be possible too if you really insist since a majority of
posters will probably put "Oracle" or "Rocky" or something
like that into their subject lines anyway.
That?s a poor argument,  you?re basically telling people that you can post about
any topic unrelated to CentOS, and people can just read the CentOS related ones.
1.) you assume people will clearly label their off topic threads and 2.) as
we?ve seen, those off topic threads often weave in and out of on-topic threads
until a moderator tells you to take it to another venue.

 You?ll dilute the usefulness of this list to the point that it will be
worthless for people who are interested in CentOS topics.  You want a generic
rhel clone list?  Create one and post an announcement about it. If you want to
talk about Rocky or Oracle Linux, use their lists. This list is for CentOS.

I?m not thrilled with the direction CentOS is going, but I?m not going to poison
the wells and salt the earth.  The CentOS list has value for on topic
conversation.
> Again, Centos/Rocky/Oracle all share a similar-to-identical codebase, so
most of what's applicable to one will likely be applicable to all so I
don't see it as being a big deal.
Perhaps there are going to be similar codebases, but the infrastructure and
politics around each will vary widely.  If you have a question that is codebase
specific, then just ask it without talking about the distro it came from, but as
soon as it becomes clear that it is infrastructure related, keep it on the
appropriate list.

? 
Jonathan Billings

On Sat, 6 Feb 2021 15:22:21 -0500
Jonathan Billings wrote:

1.) you assume people will clearly label their off topic threads

I think that in most cases that will happen, yes, since people with a technical
background understand that clarity and precision are important when posting a
question or observation or asking for advice.

 2.) as we?ve seen, those off topic threads often weave in and out of on-topic
threads until a moderator tells you to take it to another venue.

Which of course never happens now with threads that start off discussing some
aspect of Centos?
> 
>  You?ll dilute the usefulness of this list to the point that it will be
> worthless for people who are interested in CentOS topics.
In your opinion.  On average, this is not a high-traffic mailing list and
I'd be really surprised if the traffic actually increased in any significant
way since a question that might today be asked about Centos will be asked
tomorrow about Rocky; either way, there's no net increase in the traffic,
just a change in the subject line.
> You want a generic
> rhel clone list?  Create one and post an announcement about it.
You're welcome to do that if that's your calling.  By all means, be my
guest, and so on.  Personally, I'm quite content using the mailing lists
that I've been using for years.  If I really have to sign up for some other
mailing lists then I can do that though it's not really my first choice of
actions.  I really have no desire to run a mailing list of my own.  Again,
though, you're welcome to undertake that if you wish and I might even be
convinced to sign up for it.
> If you want to talk about Rocky or Oracle Linux, use their lists. This list
is for CentOS.
Since neither you or I are the list manager, all we can do is express an
opinion.  I've expressed mine, you've expressed yours, and a few other
folks have chimed in too.   And we'll all get to find out what happens as
time goes on.
> If you have a question that is
> codebase specific, then just ask it without talking about the distro it
came
> from, but as soon as it becomes clear that it is infrastructure related,
keep
> it on the appropriate list. 
And after going through all of the above, you ultimately agree with me after
all.

I generally read just the parts of this mailing list that are of interest to me,
and most questions and observations that I see here are about specific
programs/setups/why-did-this-just-explode.  Unless they're buried in some of
the threads that I skip over because they don't seem relevant to what
I'm doing, I see very few questions about infrastructure and the like. 
Well, up until about two months ago, that is.  And I'm pretty sure the
infrastructure stuff will calm down again after the big change-over at the end
of this year.



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