NET24 - Case Study - Typo3

by Diane Russell

Download Hard Copy Summary

Total of 17 page in web site and one download

As stated on the web site “The mailing lists are the pulse of the TYPO3 community”. It is here that community members can ask and answer questions. There is no fee for assistance however as more demands are placed on the core team they have had to implement some rules and guidelines as well as a suggestion of payment for direct questions to the core team. The financial remuneration developed around 2002. Payment is not enforced by ‘Typo3’ but is determined by each individual within the community.

http://typo3.org/community/mailing-lists/

It is important to look at this section in more detail as it reflects not only the growth of the community but also illustrates more subtle aspects of the growing community’s technical ability and cyber ethical evolution.

http://typo3.org/community/mailing-lists/mailing-list-rules-guidelines/

The ‘rules and Guidelines’ appears to be fairly long but it can be summed up in one simple rule. Be courteous.

In the early stages of a community development there tends to be a small hard core of like minded people of a similar level. In this case the hard core community was reasonably proficient in online behavior and had already had ‘buy in’ to the vision ergo a philosophy that would govern online behavior. Therefore there was no need for online behavior rules and guidelines.

However as typo3 technology became more ‘user friendly’ it reached people with fewer IT skills and experience. This resulted in two primary problem zones technical and ethical behavior.

If we consider the list of rules on the Typo3 mailing list page they all fit into one or both of these problem zones for example technical rules would be, auto responders, mail format, quoting and attachments. These rules are to assist the community in management of the large volume of data being communicated by members. People who are very familiar with on-line activity are constantly considering file sizes being transmitted, they are aware of the complexities and problems that overloading a system can cause. A ‘newbie’ (person new to this type of environment) would be unfamiliar with the possible consequences of their action and would therefore need to have the rules and guidelines to protect the system.

The second problem ‘ethical behavior’ is covered by the rules; ‘Answered your own question?’, ‘FAQ's & HOWTO's’, ‘Correct list?’ ‘Subjects’, ‘Questions’ ‘Junk in posts’ ‘Replying’  ‘Hijacking’  and ‘Courtesy to core members’, What these have in common is that they all relate to being considerate and courteous of other members space and time.

For example by having a concise and clearly defined question posted in the appropriate thread and list makes it quicker for someone to answer the post or find the answer. If you remove ‘junk’ and ‘quotes’ you are saving people time and frustration as they do not have to wade through irrelevant text. By having one question per post you make it easier for future queries to follow the thread in the same was if replying to a post try not to have multiple replies in one post. It is all about maintaining a ‘clean’ information resource center for all members. ‘Newbies’ tend to be so focused on their problem that they forget to consider other community members. This could be likened to a child entering a room demanding mother’s attention. They need to be trained into appropriate behavior for that environment.

The rules ‘Answered your own question?’ and ‘FAQ's & HOWTO's’ apply to a more ephemeral issue. The issue being, having ‘buy in’ to the vision and mission of the community

To inspire people to share and to jointly innovate excellent free software enabling people to communicate.

If successful answers given posts are submitted to the FAQ’s then they are readily available to other members. Experienced members of this community are aware of the benefits of this compliance and do so willingly. As mentioned before ‘Newbies’ tend to be so focused on their own issues that they often forget to comply. It is only after they have experienced both the pain and the pleasure of compliance and non compliance of the rules that they evolve into having ‘buy in’ to the community rules.

‘Hijacking’ and ‘Courtesy to core members’ are rooted in ‘Newbie’ inexperience. Hijacking a thread is like interrupting a conversation, demanding a response from the hard core members is like a child demanding attention. Both behaviors are only acceptable in extreme situations. The problem is the ‘Newbie’ believes all their contact is vital or an extreme situation.

Mailing List Suggestions

These suggestions mostly relate to re enforcing basic courtesy and encouraging personal responsibility such as using your real name. This raises an interesting insight into the level of cyber sophistication of core Typo3 community. See section Cyber evolution