Create a channel for questions, development discussions, etc. about smashing

[kinow]

IRC is a good option, that would be my preference, but probably e-mail group as well. Unless we get developers in a few timezones, the channel would probably be empty or very quiet for a long time.

Users could post questions there, but it would either not be answered, or take a while for someone to reply. I feel like IRC is a good complement for mailing list in projects. So that users can ask questions they do not think are appropriate to the mailing list, or if they just want to talk about some issue with one of the devs.

So the next step after the mailing list could be an IRC channel. Let me create the mailing list before I forget about it again :-)

[kinow]

Group created https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/smashing-dashboard/

Made it public, added @tylermauthe as owner too. Updated the project README with a link to the mailing list. Also updated the CONTRIBUTING file with pointers to the mailing list.

[terraboops]

We talked about doing this in the Dashing days, my preference was to direct people to Stack Overflow - but they just don't go there. We can definitely try a mailing list powered by a Google Group, see how that works! I suspect that people submitting issues to GitHub for whatever problems they have is simply a fact of open source life though.

…

On Dec 2, 2016, at 1:03 PM, Bruno P. Kinoshita ***@***.***> wrote: There are several issues raised in GitHub that are questions on how to do certain things in the dashboards. Questions range from simple things in CoffeeScript and Ruby, to more complicated cases that involve third party widgets. It is possible to search for issues, trying to find past conversations, but I feel like users may give up when the search returns lots of mixed development and question issues. I think we need a channel for this kind of questions. My vote would be for a mailing list that can be archived, like a Google Groups. Other alternatives include point users to use a StackOverflow with certain tags (Apache Jena does that), IRC, Slack, etc. Don't really think IRC and Slack are the best options as not everyone uses them, and you may have long periods of inactivity from developers, besides not being very simple to archive and search/link past questions. Any thoughts on this? — You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or mute the thread.

[kinow]

I suspect that people submitting issues to GitHub for whatever problems they have is simply a fact of open source life though.

Agreed, but at least one portion of the understanding users will understand, and start using the mailing list (hopefully).

Will set up a mailing list and add we both as admins there, and also add an entry in the README pointing users there.

Thanks @tylermauthe

Will leave the issue open in case any other @SmashingDashboard/contributors has another suggestion.

[iooner]

IRC ?

[iooner]

Slack could be a good alternative.

[kinow]

Indeed @iooner. I'm not on Slack due to the lack of time with e-mail+IRC+GitHub notifications. But if users find that useful, and if other developers would join a channel there, I don't see why not :-)

[iooner]

Google group.
Seriously...

[kinow]

@iooner sorry if that does not sound like the best place in your opinion. Please, do note that before your previous comment, in this issue thread Google group had already been mentioned. Your comment now suggests you did not read the whole thread.

We are happy to accept other suggestions for better places to host the discussion group. However, it is important to note that should we consider IRC, Slack, Trello, etc, we have to check if developers of the project would join, and if users could search the archived messages easily with/out joining too.

Said that, again, feel free to suggest better alternatives 👍 any help much appreciated :-)

[MartynKeigher]

How about Gitter? (gitter.im)

Issues logged here (gihub) for sure...but for general QnA/chat feature... gitter would be an awesome addon. I use gitter for a few other projects i'm involved with and its been a huge help. It's all web-based too! no additional client (like Slack/IRC) either.

I'd be fine with Slack too, but for those who dont want the extra client etc... gitter gets my vote!

[kinow]

Sounds like a good option too @MartynKeigher , haven't used it, but from what you said about it, I would definitely be keen to give it a try too.

[MartynKeigher]

hey @kinow!!

Gitter gets my vote.

PS: You can sign into Gitter using your GitHub account. Enjoy and see y'all in there!
PPS: As it's an 'actual live 24/7 chat-room' you wont miss chat if you are not in the room. Just join when ya can and scroll back to see what ya missed!

[kinow]

Sweet, let me know if you need any changes in the project GitHub repository for that, or in the main repository. Ta

[MartynKeigher]

Another nice thing you can do with Gitter is post the github's project activity into the chan too. Super Super easy to setup!

[kinow]

Signed in with my GitHub account :-) will try to understand its interface later, but so far nothing too complicated.

[MartynKeigher]

Sure.. if its easier for the sake of linking the repo to the chat... then be sure to start one up.

You can create a room by leveraging your current project (smashing) to do so. Would link up a lot nicer than the room i created did. I'll remove my room and let ya play with Gitter a bit - but it has to be better than slack/irc and esp. Google Groups!! ;p

[terraboops]

Google Groups (aka a mailing list) are really not that bad... not my favourite option but they do the job just fine. As would IRC, which is also not my favourite option.

Gitter is cool too. I hope it works out for support! At the very least it could be great for contributors to collaborate. see you there!

[MartynKeigher]

Added a new Wiki page today...

https://github.com/Smashing/smashing/wiki/How-to%3A-Install-Smashing-on-Ubuntu-16.04.1

I have ran through this process on 5 VM's, so the doc is solid. If you feel that any part of it needs adjusting then please feel free to do so, @kinow & @tylermauthe.

PS: It seems that 'this issue discussion' has become the 'unofficial' channel for questions, development discussions, etc. ;p

[terraboops]

Thanks so much for putting this together! Building Ruby from source, wow - hardcore!

You shouldn't need to clone the smashing repo locally, unless you're going to do some pretty hardcore dev work on Smashing. As such, git is also not required. I've removed any references to Git.

Ultimately, it would be much better for everyone if this process were codified in the form of Debian and Yum packages. Also, an official Docker container should be provided.

Anyone with a good understanding of how to do the above should please submit a PR!

[terraboops]

Created gitter.im channel:
https://gitter.im/Smashing