Here's what I think.

Why not introduce a point system in which the guy who asks the question awards points to:

1. The most acceptable/useful answer
2. Or shares the points among most acceptable answers

That is to assume that with every new question, a user gets to award some points to others. This can promote better sharing of expertise and a healthy competition between Linux experts and provide them an impetus to give thorough answers, even if they can't redeem them. For the users, the benefit is that they obtain quick and effective responses.

Of course, I pinched this brainchild from:

http://www.marketingprofs.com/ea/index.asp

I'm a member of the above website/forum and I know for sure this system is working! I'm not sure if this can be done with the current BB Technology.

What say all?

Yogi

you mean turn lq.org into www.experts-exchange.com?

a change like that would not only require a huge jump in commitment from jeremy and us moderators in validating answers etc... it would fundamentally change everything that makes LQ.org what it is. different styles of forum suit different types of people, and a strict framework like that is very unlikely to suit the users new to linux.

I really don't think this would ever benefit linuxquestions.org in any way.

Chris no, the moderators don't validate the answers. When the question draws to a close, the guy who's asked the question awards points. If the questioner chap doesn't respond after sometime, the thread can be closed/archived/purged without any points being awarded.

Dunno exactly how Experts Exchange works, so I can't comment. I just thought this would be an excellent way to return a favour to the expert. Anyways, let's see what the others have to say about this.

Yogi

we already have a ratings system on lq.org. were you aware of this? probably not, because generally no one ever uses it. Generally people aren't bothered about following up each post, and the exception of moderators closing the threads etc.. would likely become the norm very rapidly, and i don't have that many hours in the day.

Also i'd have concerns abuot the best answers etc... many threads go off in all sorts of directions, and just closing a thread when the original poster thinks he's ok doesn't really seem that good a thing for the overall community. It's not a particuarly friendly way of running things. I think i actually suggesed a similar concept a few years ago, but now i think it would be bad for us. I'm not saying that the concept itself isn't good, indeed the "carrot" that these points turn into can often bring about insanely detailed and accurate replies.

This is only my personal views of course, and please don't feel that your input is not welcome in any way.

Affero is a quite underused service... although, it's not really promoted outside of signatures...

People give their time and energy for freely answering questions. Why should their answers be rated? This is not a professional helpdesk where people get paid to give you your answers.

It's against the community spirit that we have here at the moment.

Chris:

I admit I was not aware of the rating system. You may actually have a point there. Its funny how an idea turns blue over the edges when you sleep over it, as the expression goes.

This is why I love LQ... because of its democratic style of functioning... because it never fails to open up a wonderful channel for debate.

Scuzzman:

Hello. What is your opinion on this topic?

Harishankar:

<< This is not a professional helpdesk where people get paid to give you your answers.>>

I'm clear on that. If you've observed closely, you'll understand that most topics under this forum are about not "What this forum is" but "What this forum can be", which is why this particular forum is aptly named "Website Suggestions & Feedback". You seem to be a book lover, but I humbly suppose you've missed this one:

http://tinyurl.com/6fmbj

Interesting comments, overall! Keep them coming.

Yogi

I've read that who moved my cheese book. However, I must admit I was not always impressed by its logic.

I do not believe that all change is for the good.

An eternal optimist, no doubt. Harishankar, you say you don't believe that all change is for the good. Neither do I. All I'm saying is that it is worth finding out if it really is or isn't for the good. Pardon me for saying this, but no community milieau is better served by the neophobic partisan protectionism that you seem to exude.

That reminds me, let me tell you something about communities. Ants make communities for they see strength in numbers. Honeybees make communities to ward off hornet attacks on their hives. Lions do it to make a successful kill. Chimps do it to rid themselves of ticks. What do you see in common?

- Each member has something to give
- Each member has something to take
- They share a common interest

What are our parallels here at LQ?

- I want help on Linux
- I want to help somebody with Linux
- The use of Linux should be promoted

Wouldn't a system like the one proposed get you real good answers when you need them and soon? Wouldn't the enticement of points rouse you to respond to questions throughly so that you see your name on the experts list among countless faceless members? Call it visibility! Thanks to quasi-professional support, wouldn't the use or adaption of Linux given the much needed shot in the arm? Do you still feel its against the community spirit? Think about it.

Don't get me wrong, but I'm only trying to establish what can be called a bouncing pad for ideas. Come, listen, consider, evaluate and then opine. Please don't take the last step first.

Rebuttal time!

Chris, I gave them some fresh thought and I'm back. You are right that generally people wouldn't bother to close threads and it can become cumbersome to the moderators.

1. Can't we automate the closure of threads after some time (Say, 15 days)? Automated closures don't award points to any member.
2. Can't we have a history for each user of thread abandomnet rate that members can access? For example, if I know the answer to a particular question posted, I'd just check on the questioners history of closing threads. If I find that he's abandoned 4 threads out of 5, I'd just give him what I know without bothering to come up with a detailed answer. This will keep thread starters on their toes to close a question for want of accurate responses.

I also agree that closing the thread when the poster is satisfied might be bad for the community.

1. When I meant close or closure, I was only referring to a state of things. We could introduce a new “Status” called “Answered” apart from closed so that members might still be able to post responses for a long time. Only, points are not awarded once the thread is “Answered”.

Why I strongly believe that this scheme of things will work is that desktop adoption of Linux still faces the biggest challenge of support or rather the lack of it. When users begin to understand that professional help is just around the corner and for free, they'll be less hesitant to give Linux a try. The community will grow, and so will LQ's advertising revenues. Can't we try our hand at this at a reduced capacity on a pilot basis?

Hell, I can't believe I'm actually making a business case here!

Yogi

I actually suggested the idea of self-moderation some time back. But it doesn't seem to have caught the imagination of many people and also seems to me, in retrospect, to be an idea that might not work.

Threads will never be arbitrarily closed here at LQ. What if someone comes along with a better answer on day 16 (or generally speaking, day+1)? What if someone has a question that builds on the old thread? Closing threads is bad and we avoid it at all costs here for good reason.

--jeremy

Let me clarify something here. Forget about closures or the "Closed" status; let's talk about a new "Answered" status. Conditions for closure of threads will remain as they are now.

Q. What if someone comes along with a better answer on day 16 (or generally speaking, day+1)?

Good question, Jeremy. There are two things that go into a helpful answer. One is technical correctness or detail or broadly "Content". The other is "timeliness" of response. Using that analogy, an acceptable response that comes sooner a premium response at a later date after the thread is "answered" gets the points.

Q. What if someone has a question that builds on the old thread? Closing threads is bad and we avoid it at all costs here for good reason.

Again, as I said, the conditions for closure of a thread remain the same.

Fair enough?

Yogi

As for the "Answered" bit, we have tested it. In fact, since you started this thread, you should see an answered button right next to the "post reply" button. For a variety of reason that range from not getting much use to the ambiguity of what really defines "answered" the experiment did not work out and therefore will not be implemented at this time. If in the future we can find a way to have the system truly benefit LQ members we can revisit the topic.

--jeremy

Well, you're just arguing semantics. As has already been stated many times in this forum, closing threads would have a negative effect on the usability of the site. If threads were automatically closed according to some rigid formula, then if a person had an additional comment or followup question to the original post but wanted to post the day after closure, he/she would be blocked. (Would this improve the usability of the site? No.) The only viable alternative for them to post therefore would be to create an entirely new thread on the same exact subject. (Would this improve the usability of the site? No.) The important point here is just that the answers in a single thread may benefit many people, not just the original poster, and the only way this can occur is for the threads to remain open, without a bunch of arbitrary restrictions.

Regarding the proposed "Answered" status, I would also call attention to the fact that there already is a perfect system available *today* that lets people indicate that a question has been answered, and that system is simply for the original poster to post a followup reply indicating what steps solved the problem. Whether or not people take this step is a different issue, but the mechanism you are asking for already exists. -- J.W.

I agree - don't fix it , if it ain't broke.

I am a paying member of experts-exchange and to be honest I don't think their points system is working. In the beginning I had to physically and financially buy points. Now they are free - or at least they are free to me. In the beginning 25 points used to get an answer, now the average appeArs to be much closer to 500 points for an answer. Again, it used to be that an offer of 500 points meant that it was really important and urgent for the questioner to get an answer, and one either had to have corporate sponsorship or be willing to part with some hard earned cash to offer such points. Now it seems that the whole premise is devalued.

The other problem with EE (points system aside) is that I have had to close a couple of questions after a couple of weeks even though they didn't really have satisfactory answers. I guess that is a problem that we don't suffer here since we are generally working with open source software and the combined knowledge of all the contributors, and while the answer may not be known by the readers today, tomorrow or another tomorrow someone here will have advice if not the exact solution.

I think that LQ is just great as it is.