Do we really need a General forum?

OK, this is just an opinion.

But of late, I have seen a lot of wasteful arguments and useless discussions going on in this forum and I just cannot for the life of me imagine what these people would gain by this exercise.

I just thought that I would put up a poll here and see how many of us really want a general forum.

I think that this forum should be renamed:

"General Questions"

and all the silly discussions on politics and philosophical Windows vs. Linux questions should be stopped from now on.

Again. Just an opinion. Discuss...

It's necessary to have a general forum, otherwise, peoples start to put off-topic stuff on the other forums.

Also, you are kind of... well, how can I put this, you have posted 266 times in the general forum, so General is actually your favorite forum...

If you got bored, simply don't post on the General . There're plenty of users here who stick only in the General.

Some (won't give names) has like 7-10 posts on the "real" forums and like 300 times _only_ on the General (which does not count as a post, but it does, appears on the user's profile).

Generals is just a need, on every forum out there...

Yes.

General was my favourite forum and that's what really got me worried!!

Maybe 'Non-controversial General' forum?

I have seen a lot of other forums where the General-type forums are a very nice place, more because probably they have fewer members than LQ.

I just thought that all these repeated Linux vs. Windows threads and political threads (who'll be the next president? and so on) were taking up too much importance on the agenda out here.

I'm totally with you on this one though, since it's General, I've no need (or care to) to know about American politics . And Windows Vs Linux, Mortal Kombat Vs Street Fighter, Sonic Vs Mario, Xbox Vs PS2 are kinda of boring... endless lines of personal opinions .

I do though, think that the name should be changed to Off-Topic, ratter then General. That would reduce the number of users posting on "Linux - General" threads that should fit into "General" and vice-versa instead

Good point. Actually we don't have that many Mortal Kombat vs. Street Fighter threads out here...

And off-topic is a much better sounding title than general.

I think a general forum is a great forum in which to 'just hang out' - you don't have to visit it if you don't want to but it's free from any distro-specific bias and can be a good way of getting to know other Linux users from around the world without actually having to post specifically about Linux

edit: another vote for 'off-topic' as a better alternative to 'general'

I think that we are agreed that a General-type forum may be a need here. But I still stick to my original point about controversial topics.

And an enormous amount of time and energy is wasted by members on controversial and totally non-productive topics/issues.

And controversial topics get the maximum number of replies....

Like this one

I think there should be a general forum, but posts older than 1 month (say) get automatically deleted

an enormous amount of time and energy is wasted by members on controversial and totally non-productive topics/issues.

One could argue that posting ANYTHING not directly related to solving a Linux problem is non-productive and a waste of time and energy (including this thread). However, each person has individual opinions and beliefs, which most like to share with others. There are many people who make a comfortable living doing nothing but discussing and arguing politics. The only time I think it's non-productive is when the discussion becomes repetative and/or abusive.

Originally posted by mikshaw One could argue that posting ANYTHING not directly related to solving a Linux problem is non-productive and a waste of time and energy (including this thread). However, each person has individual opinions and beliefs, which most like to share with others. There are many people who make a comfortable living doing nothing but discussing and arguing politics. The only time I think it's non-productive is when the discussion becomes repetative and/or abusive.

Yes. Theoritically speaking you are right.

But look at what happens. Most threads become nasty and unproductive even without becoming flame wars.

There's a qualititative difference between "ANY non-linux question" and a "DELIBERATELY provocative topic".

So where would you draw the line? That's what I would like to know.

But if there was no general forum Harishankar and I would have no where to debate :-p

Originally posted by stabile007 But if there was no general forum Harishankar and I would have no where to debate :-p

Right!

I think that we are now discussing whether to call this forum 'Off-topic' or 'General'.

OFF-TOPIC I SAY! Hyphens are cooler!

Off topic from what? Linux non-technical threads go here as well as Windows questions, etc.

I say stop worrying about it and leave it as it is as its not going to go away. Cause I certainly don't want to wake up to a dozen reported posts a day in Linux - General that have nothing to do with Linux.

Regards.

1. 'Linux - General'
and
2. 'General'

forums seems to be more confusing than

1. 'Linux - Other' (which can include both Linux technical and non-technical questions).
and
2. 'Off-topic'

Again, just an opinion. My real question is not about technical or non-technical, but the deliberately controversy seeking posts being made in 'General'.