Can I just point out that this sort of thing belongs in Website Questions and Suggestions?

Harishankar - you say that "of late" there have been some questionable posts. I'd suggest you read back over the early posts on this forum - Mods were having to step in on a regular basis.

The General forum is part of what makes this board a community - it's a place to put up silly questions, start a debate on a non-technical subject or just to post a thought. It should be noted that this is still a moderated forum and we will step in and/or close threads if necessary. Especially religious threads because they turn nasty very quickly.

I like General, it's a good place where one can discuss, for example, books ;). And you could name it "The Please Don't Post Linux Technical Questions Forum" and people would still mispost. It's human nature.

XavierP,

I just saw that you moved one thread from 'Linux General' to 'General' and even admonished the person because he had 300-odd posts.

What I ask is that this forum be renamed to 'Off-topic'

and the 'Linux - General' be renamed to 'Linux - Other' which can include both Linux technical and Linux non-technical questions.

But the only person who can rename a forum is jeremy - and he tends to hang out mostly in WQ&S. And this thread is a Suggestion about the Website.

Anyhoo, pedanticism aside, this suggestion has been made before and Jeremy has said that He is happy with Linux-General and General. Frankly, I am surprised at how many people get it wrong - each forum has a clear description and one of the skills that is essential for using Linux is to read and understand instructions. True, no?

where else would we get advice on picking up hot chicks? My dating has increased since visiting the general forum. LOL!!!

So far by the poll, most think we need a General forum. If you want to ask for it to be renamed, by all means post this as a suggestion in Website Questions and Suggestions but lets keep this "on-topic" with your original question. ;)

Personally I say lets do away with General altogether.. and just stay technical. If people rely on this forum for a social life, that's just plain sad. ;)

well harishankar u should look at your previous postings in the general forum before asking this question...if i m not wrong you posted something like "what books do you all read?" ..where i am concerned i find the question quite okay in the G forum....thats what makes this forum exciting..else theres nothing but techie talks....and if anyone doesnt like the G forum well he is free to be in any of the 1001 forums that this place has ..its like censorship if you try to stop people from posting their comments...however absurd they are and being connected to the software freedom movement i think that will go against the spirit of LQ.

we need one to discuss topics like this thread

I look at the General forum as a place where, if you want, you can get an idea of what the people on LQ are like, however much that's possible on an electronic board - the human side of a technical forum.

I personally don't use General very much, but I think an "off-topic" type section is important for any established forum. Often it's just a dumping ground, but sometimes there are interesting posts, there are funny posts and there are helpful posts on other topics.

As to what it should be called, I think it's really irrelevant

I doubt there are people here who rely on the General forum for their social life, but if there are, well, whatever works for you...;)

I have absolutely no problem with the General forum or its the name it has. This kind of forum needs a General forum due to the great number of people that are members. Where else are you going to learn about your fellow Linux users across the globe? The main problem I see with the political stuff is that people tend to take the debates to be a personal attack against them. People need to be able to differentiate between debate and personal attacks and that goes for both sides the attacker and the rebutter. Just my $.02

I enjoy reading the posts in General ---- I know that I don't have to read them but I do. I often get a good laugh out of the posts and they often make me think. That's my choice, isn't it? The threads are not "off-topic" : they are on-topic because they are general in nature. Perhaps it would be better if LQ users such as Harishankar were given the option to not see posts in this forum --- a choice in their profile, perhaps? That would remove the immediate temptation to hang around here and allow everyone else to enjoy "wasting *their own* time".

Other unnamed Linux forums had the same debate, and a few decided to remove the General forum or make it strictly on-topic. They lost countless members due to the loss of the community feel of the place. Even the most helpful people need a place to unwind or shoot the breeze, well except Trickykid, he lives technical support. :-)

Renaming it is not such a bad idea, but that is Jeremy's call. I have learned so much about the personalities behind the posts in General I could not advocate its removal.

thing i dont get is, im able to find most of my answers without posting in the other forums(via searching ;)) general is a great place to get perspective on things from people that dont live near me. of course, this isnt the goal or objective of the site and i realize that, but while im about the site learning its interesting to stop by this forum and read the latest flamebait or whatever might be posted.

Re: Do we really need a General forum?
 

No, it's several opinions and a poll.



Everyone is different. Once you learn this fact and move on life will flow much smoother. Because people are different, they enjoy different things, especially when it comes to forums. No one is forcing you to read the "wasteful arguments and useless discussions" and who made you the Pope of discussions? If you feel a discussion is useless then by all means, don't read it. This is why the topics are displayed so we may click on a topic to read that interests us. Try reading the topics before opening the threads.



Poll or troll? :P There are plenty of forums on the web, if you feel this General forum is useless, then by all means stop reading and posting in the General forum here.

Speaking of useless discussions. I should've taken my own advice and skipped posting/reading this thread. I think it should be renamed "magical flowers dance with pretty unicorns under a chocolate waterfall of happiness" forum. How's that sound?



Who died and made you dictator? LOL.

for once, i agree with you. ever since i switched to yoper not only have i been needing hte forum less, but i now use the yoper forum for questions cause, lets face it, the other devs know better than a suse user.

Edit: i htink hes talking aobut me...:(

yay!! we agree on something. most of my questions have been answered.

? by flamebait i was referencing anything that is, well thats flamebait. like xavierP said, religion = flamebait a lot of the time, politics is right behind. and the obvious, microsoft pwnz linux thread.