On Wed, Mar 16, 2005 at 11:27:45AM -0800, Christopher B. Wright wrote:

I just signed up to the list today. I've been testing Inkscape privately and am impressed enough with it that I plan to be using it heavily.

This is described as the "User's List" on Sourceforge, as opposed to the "Developer's List," and since I'm not a developer this seems like the right one for me. But I have a question: what is appropriate Inkscape discussion here, and what is not?

What I mean is: it may be entirely appropriate to ask questions about how to use the program, the best way to optimize it, sharing tricks and tips... and it may *not* be appropriate to request features or critique how some features are implemented. I'd like to participate responsibly and can't find any guidelines that outline what the limits of conversation on this list are (there were not that were immediately obvious to me, at any rate -- I may have overlooked them).

We've tried not to be too formal about what can be said where. Despite having two lists called 'devel' and 'user', in practice we don't really differentiate. Most developers are also users, after all, and many users contribute a lot to the project.

I think there's a few developers that want to be 100% devel oriented, and probably some users that are 100% just interested in user stuff, but looking at the subscription list, there's a nice amount of overlap between the two lists. So if you post to just one list, the message is probably going to be seen by nearly all the people you intend.

That said, there does seem to be some general traditions that folks follow:

* Usage/installation/optimization questions are fine to ask on either list.

* Critique of existing features is fine to make on either list.

* Questions/tips/tricks of technique or artistic style are probably best discussed on inkscape-user.

* Bugs should be reported to the bug tracker (see the website). It's okay to discuss them on inkscape-devel, but we really prefer having them in the tracker so we can keep track of them easier.

If you happen to be tracking CVS HEAD on a daily basis, and spot a newly introduced bug, you can report it to the inkscape-devel mailing list; often these get fixed immediately and a bug report would not be needed.

* Feature requests should also be posted to the Request For Enhancement (RFE) tracker via the website. However, if it is something you think can be done quickly, such as a tweak to a newly implemented feature, you're welcome to mention it on the inkscape-devel list; oftentimes these "low hanging fruit" get implemented directly.

(Btw, don't be put off by the apparent lack of movement in the RFE tracker; we've just been focused mostly on bugs. We have a pretty firm handle on bugs now, though, and I expect we'll be placing more focus on the RFE list over the next several releases.)

* In general, discussions should be more or less "on topic" (i.e., about Inkscape / vector graphics / open source, as opposed to random chatter about sports scores or whatever.)

* Some people have preferences as to how emails are formatted, etc. but as a project we do not have formal regulations. Just keep an eye out for how others do things, and follow suit, and that should be fine.

* The only rule we are firm about is to keep the community fun. This means, please avoid flamewars/rants, definitely do not make personal attacks, and if you give criticism keep it constructive and positive.

Hope this helps, Bryce