Re: [BuildStream] Shorter emails, please?

[Daniel Silverstone <daniel silverstone codethink co uk>]

On Thu, Dec 20, 2018 at 13:53:09 +0000, Paul Sherwood via BuildStream-list wrote:
> I wonder if I'm alone in sighing when confronted by long walls of text on
> this list?

You are not alone.

> If others, like me, would like to see crisper communications, please let's
> consider these three tricks:
>
> 1) focus on one topic in an email, rather than attempting to 'boil the
> ocean'. If necessary split your message into a series of mails.

One problem with splitting into a series of mails can be that connectivity
between points made in separate emails is hard to maintain.

> 2) When replying, use <snip> and only include the specific comment you are
> responding to

Heck yes.  The lack of snipping on this list has, at times, meant I've simply
marked an entire thread as "read" and moved on because I can't deal with it.

> 3) If there really needs to be a longer doc, stick it in the wiki, or a blog
> post - then summarise the key points in your email and provide a link

This is where I diverge from your opinion somewhat.  I think discussion of
points is nearly impossible via blogs, and much harder via a wiki, than it is
via a well managed mailing list thread.

I would, however, recommend that people who have been engaged in a long and/or
complex discussion band together and write summaries of their threads where
appropriate.

Thanks for raising this,

Daniel.

P.S. I expect to raise a long long email on Friday but I promise to ensure it
starts with a tl;dr, and is well structured for ease of reading.  I'm hoping nobody
will respond to it until after the winter break (though that they'll read it before
then).

-- 
Daniel Silverstone                          https://www.codethink.co.uk/
Solutions Architect               GPG 4096/R Key Id: 3CCE BABE 206C 3B69