On Thu, Jul 10, 2025 at 12:19 PM Andy Smith <a...@strugglers.net> wrote: > > On Thu, Jul 10, 2025 at 08:48:18AM +0000, Andrew M.A. Cater wrote: > > To make it REALLY clear - anybody and everybody is welcome here: if they > > need us to answer questions that should be fine. > > I think it's worth considering the fact that new computer users are > increasingly less likely to use email and are more likely to find email > intimidating. > > I know a large number of people under the age of 20 who literally say > things like, "email is only for password reminders and my Steam login > code". It's not that they are non-technical or uninterested in > technology, it's that specifically email is an unknown and unwieldy tool > for them. When email is the only support venue, to a lot of folks that > is unwelcoming. > > We should try to be as welcoming as we can here, but I think that Debian > cannot hope to reverse that trend so if it wishes to remain relevant it > should try to remove email workflows from all aspects of its use.
I don't think removing email workflows (which implies removing mailing lists) is wise. Debian can support new ways to participate, like Social Media and Chat, for Gen-Z. However, I don't believe it is an either/or proposition. Debian should support email, mailing lists and other methods for everyone. If Debian switches to Social Media and Chat, then folks like me -- who do not participate in the social networking experiments -- will lose out. > I say this as someone who has had an email address since 1992 and has > been using this particular email address since 1998. Related, the IETF just had a similar thread at "Fully functional email address," <https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/ietf/mLuQzc9aYPz0NpaExJMK0ZbiFow/>. Jeff
