Mailing list & Raspberry Pi

I had an email a couple of days back asking if I could set up a RISCOSitory.co.uk mailing list for the Pi. My initial reaction (and response) was that it’s too early – the port being still in alpha, so any and all discussion should probably be kept on these forums.

Another two points that I didn’t mention in the email are:

1) What happens if anyone decides to put together a complete machine around the Pi and sell it – much as R-Comp did with BeagleBoard in the form of the ARMini. In such cases, they might want their own mailing list for their machine¹.

2) Nobody suggested a list for the BeagleBoard (or the PandaBoard) and we seem to be living quite happily without mailing lists for them – ARMini related matters (and BeagleBoard stuff for subscribers to R-Comp’s scheme) are best served on R-Comp’s mailing list, and anything else is probably better off here.

Those two points leave me thinking a list for the Pi itself is unnecessary – if a machine is produced around it, a list for that machine makes sense, with any general stuff about RISC OS on the Pi being best served here.

However, the other thing I did say in my reply was that it’s worth bringing the subject up on the forums for people to discuss. So that’s this post. Discuss away.

¹ Of course, there’s no reason that list can’t be on RISCOSitory.co.uk rather than, say, Freelists. That’s why I set it up in the first place, after all!

1) What happens if anyone decides to put together a complete machine around the Pi and sell it – much as R-Comp did with BeagleBoard in the form of the ARMini. In such cases, they might want their own mailing list for their machine1.

Like CJE ?

I think there was an article about the stuff Chris had put together and was showing early bits at a show. Covered on a blog by some guy called Hudd IIRC :-)

Like CJE ?

I think there was an article about the stuff Chris had put together and was showing early bits at a show. Covered on a blog by some guy called Hudd IIRC :-)

Quite. I chose not to mention the CJE machines because they (obviously) haven’t happened yet – they are an example of something that will probably become available, and will therefore probably end up with a support mailing list, but it’s not set in stone. I mentioned ARMini and the BeagleBoard as an example because that’s already happened.

I’d clearly prefer the discussion taking place either on here at ROOL or the R-pi forum. Setting up yet another mailing list just leads to further user/developer fragmentation and won’t lure outsiders into the wonderful world of RISC OS ;-)

I’d clearly prefer the discussion taking place either on here at ROOL

I would agree, but the forum needs to be expanded – we have bugs, wishlist, porting, announcements, general…

…may I suggest the following:

• Problems for things that aren’t bugs (as bugs should to RISC OS itself, not software running on the platform)

• Beagle / RaspberryPi (etc) for issues specific to the port in question, and unlike “Porting” which would imply issues on porting RISC OS, it would allow for discussion on setting up/using/enjoying RISC OS on the platform concerned.

As I see it, the forums here were aimed mainly at discussion about RISC OS as opposed to discussion about using RISC OS. It makes sense it started that way, but now we have stable versions for RISC OS, one coming along nicely for the RPi, and potentially other hardware as it comes on the market (ie the Pandora etc etc), we should consider a place for people who aren’t interested in developing as much as just using RISC OS.

Well, there’s my €0,0256…

Unless we’re going to compile the various questions which are frequently asked into an actual FAQ on the wiki, then users will have to resort to searching. And one big difference between the forums here and those elsewhere (or a mailing list) is being able to find what you want with some ease, when searching.