Microsoft Responds to the Evolution of Online Communities
in [VbScript]
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From: Al Dunbar on 9 May 2010 18:40 "Mayayana" <mayayana(a)invalid.nospam> wrote in message news:u94PQA67KHA.3964(a)TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl... > | It seems to me that those "groups as forums" simply present a web-based > | interface to the underlying newsgroups. I rather expect that MS will be > | taking down the whole thing so there will no longer be this newsgroup > back > | end > > Yes, the http://www.microsoft.com/communities.... > URLs are just webpage versions of the newsgroups. > > I think the message is that only > http://social.technet.microsoft.com.... > will remain. You are probably right. > Paul Randall's link is especially discouraging. Not > only is script being moved to a moderated web forum, > but it appears that *all* script topics will be in a > single group, Strike one: If I'm looking for information to help me rebuild a volkswagen beetle, I don't want to be going to a website that talks about "car parts" and then having to drill down based on the content of the sorts of posts that might help me. I want to go to a VW > moderated by those cloying Scripting > Guys. ("Hey kids, let's have some scripting fun!" > "Please help us welcome our new moderator! There'll > be milk and cookies in the lobby!") > > It's already clear in the current posts that most > people are ignoring the request to specify the tool > or language they're asking about. So the whole thing > has just been reduced to a bad joke. If I didn't know > better I'd think that MS was going out of business. > > What I think they're really doing is working on a > gradual process of defining Windows programming > as something done by Microsoft employees and > partners. The new forums are not a place for > programmers and admins to discuss. They're a place > for Microsoft customers to ask "user" questions and > interact with the Microsoft marketing machine. > > People who want to program can sign up, get a > Windows Live ID, and write "app" trinkets in managed > code....like Apple programmers do. > > There's a current discussion in the VB group about > moving en masse back to the existing comp.* groups. > But I don't think there's such a thing as comp.*.vbscript. > > > >
From: Al Dunbar on 9 May 2010 18:51 [sorry, hit send by mistake] "Mayayana" <mayayana(a)invalid.nospam> wrote in message news:u94PQA67KHA.3964(a)TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl... > | It seems to me that those "groups as forums" simply present a web-based > | interface to the underlying newsgroups. I rather expect that MS will be > | taking down the whole thing so there will no longer be this newsgroup > back > | end > > Yes, the http://www.microsoft.com/communities.... > URLs are just webpage versions of the newsgroups. > > I think the message is that only > http://social.technet.microsoft.com.... > will remain. You are probably right. > Paul Randall's link is especially discouraging. Not > only is script being moved to a moderated web forum, > but it appears that *all* script topics will be in a > single group, Strike one: If I'm looking for information to help me rebuild a volkswagen beetle, I don't want to be going to a website that talks about "car parts" and then having to drill down based on the content of the sorts of posts that might help me. I want to go to a VW rebuilding club. > moderated by those cloying Scripting > Guys. ("Hey kids, let's have some scripting fun!" > "Please help us welcome our new moderator! There'll > be milk and cookies in the lobby!") Strike two: enough said. Mind you, having met them in person, I like those scripting guys, cloyingness and all. But if that were the only way to be involved in this community, I agree it would get old pretty quickly. > It's already clear in the current posts that most > people are ignoring the request to specify the tool > or language they're asking about. So the whole thing > has just been reduced to a bad joke. Strike three: the whole approach seems designed to deal with products and their users, rather than innovative (remember how MS pushed the idea of innovation a while back) approaches to what is actually under the hood. > If I didn't know > better I'd think that MS was going out of business. I don't think that is indicated by this change. More likely they are realizing that the newsgroups as they are now are not serving their "product" user community as directly and effectively as they used to. That is, in part, due to attempts to make access to expertise available to their unsophisticated users without having to turn everyone into a usenetter. It is also due to an apparent decline in the number of people who turn to newsgroups for help. > What I think they're really doing is working on a > gradual process of defining Windows programming > as something done by Microsoft employees and > partners. agreed, though not so gradual... > The new forums are not a place for > programmers and admins to discuss. They're a place > for Microsoft customers to ask "user" questions and > interact with the Microsoft marketing machine. Bang on! > People who want to program can sign up, get a > Windows Live ID, and write "app" trinkets in managed > code....like Apple programmers do. Maybe we should develop a vista/win7 "gadget" that interfaces with newsgroups... ;-) > There's a current discussion in the VB group about > moving en masse back to the existing comp.* groups. > But I don't think there's such a thing as comp.*.vbscript. I never found one. Anyone interested in trying to have one created? /Al
From: Mayayana on 9 May 2010 21:12 | > There's a current discussion in the VB group about | > moving en masse back to the existing comp.* groups. | > But I don't think there's such a thing as comp.*.vbscript. | | I never found one. Anyone interested in trying to have one created? | I'd show up if it happened, but I don't know much of anything about how it works. And if people don't find it then it's not really there. I imagine most new people would find the MS forums and assume that's all there is.
From: Mike B on 9 May 2010 22:37 "Mayayana" <mayayana(a)invalid.nospam> wrote in message news:eqO$T297KHA.420(a)TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl... >| > There's a current discussion in the VB group about > | > moving en masse back to the existing comp.* groups. > | > But I don't think there's such a thing as comp.*.vbscript. > | > | I never found one. Anyone interested in trying to have one created? > | > > I'd show up if it happened, but I don't know > much of anything about how it works. And if > people don't find it then it's not really there. I > imagine most new people would find the MS > forums and assume that's all there is. > Yes.. Too bad you can't have a forwarding scheme tied to the current NG. >
From: MikeB on 12 May 2010 02:56
On May 9, 8:12 pm, "Mayayana" <mayay...(a)invalid.nospam> wrote: > | > There's a current discussion in the VB group about > | > moving en masse back to the existing comp.* groups. > | > But I don't think there's such a thing as comp.*.vbscript. > | > | I never found one. Anyone interested in trying to have one created? > | > > I'd show up if it happened, but I don't know > much of anything about how it works. And if > people don't find it then it's not really there. I > imagine most new people would find the MS > forums and assume that's all there is. Wow, two Mike B's! :) Sorry for the confusion. Call me the dumb one. :) Anyway, you guys may want to mosey on over here to check out some discussions and see if you can get a comp.lang.vbscript group established. news://news.admin.hierarchies HTH |