[Enigmail] Open discussion on how to improve signal-to-noise ratio

[Patrick Brunschwig]

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Olav Seyfarth wrote:
> 
> Graham, Frank, others who feel disturbed by testers,
> 
> 
> I think to speak for the moderators when I say that we take your discomfort at
> least as serious as our idea to not offend newbies.
> 
> At least for me the discussion is not closed and there is no need to resign as
> long as this matter isn't finally decided upon.
> 
> To find a solution that is acceptable for the majority of users subscribed to
> this list and for the moderators, I propose a initial discussion to list all
> possible proposals and in a week time start a poll (using the forum).
> 
> 
> 
> Before discussing on how to improve, please let me make my point shortly.
> 
> Enigmail aims at two user groups:
> - Computer professionals that want to or need to use encryption. They usually
>   will sign into Enigmail and GPG lists since it is their interest or need.
> - Folks that heard about Enigmail from a magazine, AMO, ... and are curious
>   enough to try a test drive. They just want to know that it works, no lists.
> 
> While I see no reason to tell the first user group to sign in adequate lists,
> I don't like the idea of asking someone who already struggles with the GnuPG
> dependency to send him/her away to even another place to ask for help.
> 
> 
> 
> Your signal-to-noise point is a good one. I like to be subscribed to lists
> where only relevant topics are discussed on my level of knowledge.
> 
> It's a human resource question I think:
> 
> Who is going to read and answer the testing list within an appropriate time?
> 
> (We already had discussions among the moderators whether we are able to read
> both the list and the forum. I mean, the more we spread efforts the less time
> we have left to improve and fix things.)
> 
> 
> Let me sketch possible solutions that I see:
> 
> 1) Enhance enigmail at mozdev.org list welcome message (already agreed upon among
>    moderators): whenever a new user subscribes to the list, he/she gets an
>    autoreply with instructions; this merely is independent of whether these
>    instructions tell to test on-list or off-list or using another list.
> 
> 2) Create an additional testdotenigmail at mozdev.org list (Patrick didn't like
>    that idea at all): we surely could set up such a list but it should not be
>    a list that users need to subscribe to first (see 'occasional users' above).
>    If we don't, then we have the spam problem. Maybe an open list that isn't
>    officially linked and announced but only mentioned in the enigmail@ welcome
>    message and the quick start guide (obfuscated) would be a solution?
>    But we would need enough moderators; please let *me* know if you'd like to
>    volunteer until 2008-03-01.
> 
> 3) In the enigmail@ welcome message and the quick start guide, point users to
>    gnupg-users or PGP-Basics for testing. But would they be happy to receive
>    lots of noise that in fact was redirected from us to them? I don't like it
>    since users need to sign into yet another list (that occasional users don't
>    want to be subscribed to except for testing) and if there are problems with
>    sigs, gnupg-users will point authors back to Enigmail if they suspect GnuPG
>    to work properly; e.g. PGP/MIME is off-topic from a gnupg-users perspective.
> 
> 4) Point new users to a robot similar to the Adele robot described in
>    http://www.gpg4win.org/handbuecher/novices_7.html . Similar-to since Adele
>    answers in german. I just asked G-N-U folks whether they provide an english
>    version aswell. Or maybe somebody else knows of a similar robot?
>
> Please enhance, clarify, prolong this list so that we either conclude within
> a week or then have a poll in the forum.
> 
> 
> 
> I hope you cherish my trying to find a good solution for all of us.


I have to admit that I anticipated reactions from long-term subscribers
as soon as I saw the Quick Start Guide, and the first "hello world"
messages appearing. Up to recently, the Enigmail list has had quite a
good mixture between announcements, technical discussion and user
support questions, and it's obvious that the focus seems has changed.

I am personally not very happy about the current situation since I think
that there is a mixture of usage discussions, technical issues and other
messages that targets a too broad audience. I.e. those interested in
more technical discussions and announcements won't like the many "Hi I'm
new to Enigmail" mails, and the others won't be interested in developer
discussions either. I agreed to let it go for a while to see how things
evolve, and I see now that we need to do something about it.

We are currently evaluating several options and I hope to find a
solution that is convenient for everyone soon. If anyone has any input
on this topic then I'm very keen to hear about it. So please forgive us
if these messages keep going for another few days until we have found
the best option.

- -Patrick
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