Having joined and used the Ubuntu forums back in 2007, I was only mildly disappointed to find that they were being migrated here. That was until I discovered the police here were issued with great big sticks and enjoyed treating everyone like children who should be seen and not heard until they had learnt the secrets which allowed them to post. I even had to read one of the “chosen few” describe people as “randos” because they did not know this was not the place for support requests. Which is wrong, because the Ubuntu forums WERE the place for support requests and now the forums have been closed and we are told to migrate here. Anyhoo, after more than 16 years of enjoying the Ubuntu forums and thinking that everyone was friendly and generally encouraging and tolerant of newcomers, I am disappointed to learn that, a bit like how the software has suffered a tragic loss of flexibility and customisation that Gutsy Gibbon etc. had, the Discourse discussion ‘moderators’ (to avoid using a more accurate but less sociably acceptable epithet), even though volunteers (I hope…), have also drawn inspiration from the proprietary world and made the offerings “our way or the highway”. (“p.s. we are not going to tell you what “our way” is and if we get it wrong it is just a config issue and just be grateful we let you ask a question at all! Be good or we will put you back on the trust level 0 naughty step!” ) Obviously, I hope I am wrong and I have missed something which was blindingly obvious. But the fact is that I joined, asked, and eventually helped on the Ubuntu forums without ever even thinking about how to do anything or whether I was “allowed” to do something. This implementation of a Discussion platform does not make me feel that way. (Oh. The “preview post” functionality was also good in the forums. Especially for me, what with my failing eyes which makes Adwaita a living hell)
On the off chance that anyone reads this, the title has been changed by the moderators from my original “Little did I realise how good the Ubuntu Forums were until I found this place” to the current rather dull and prosaic “Moderation complaint”. This was done by the moderators and it seems that I can not edit it back, which rather makes my point. In discussions which predated the restoration of this post to its current visible status (yes, that happened too) one of the correspondents pointed out that the discourse software was new and took time to learn. This, I understand. However my point is that this is not about learning how to use discourse it is about learning how to be a moderator. In this forum moderation needs to be light touch and encouraging rather than heavy handed, authoritarian and automated. Just because the software supports “trust levels” does not mean they have to be used. I guess the test of whether this migration has been successful is if these forums remain as active as the original Ubuntu forums were. Given that when I gained “editor permission” or whatever it is called I was informed I was one of about 1,100 who had been so privileged, my hunch is that these forums will become extremely easy to moderate on account of the vast majority of people failing to post / failing to edit and so going elsewhere, leaving what was once a friendly and informative community, fully embracing the spirit of “Ubuntu” in its broadest sense, an internet wasteland peopled by a few die-hards hoping that someone will be persistent enough to fight their way through the trust levels to get to be able to ask a question. I genuinely wish these boards well but think a period of reflection by the moderators on what they are for and how they will encourage participation in these boards would be welcome.
The title of “Moderation complaint” seems accurate.
I see a lot of complaining in those posts.
And a few invalid assumptions.
And (sigh) some flamethrowing.
Successful contributors to Ubuntu Discourse generally find that persuasion works better than arguing.
The title might seem accurate. However it is not the one I gave my post. Imagine if I were to change the title of your posts. Would you see me as skillfully educating you to “play nicely” in a new environment or would you see me as an arrogant know-all who had let his or her renaming powers go to their head?
And, FWIW, (and to continue the by now well established habit of starting sentences with “And”) this is what Gemini has to say about argument v. persuasion. I know in which camp I’d rather be.
" AI Overview
The main difference between argument and persuasion is the use of logic versus emotion:
- Argument
Uses logic and evidence to support a claim or opinion. Arguments are often formal and academic, and require the writer to provide solid evidence to support their claims. Arguments should present multiple sides of an issue, and explain the validity of opposing viewpoints.
- Persuasion
Uses emotion and feeling to convince or motivate readers to take a specific action or believe something. Persuasion can be effective when it appeals to the emotions and desires of a specific group of people. Persuasive writing can use logical reasoning, data analysis, and verifiable facts, but it can also be based on emotional appeals.
I am not a moderator, member, developer, or anything but a regular user. A dedicated Ubby user since I found UF years ago, & the cast of folks helping there. I noticed many of those helping us at UF were also contribs here on UD. The format is different with a learning curve. Recall that UD used to be a developers only collaboration place. It still is for developers, but evolving quite nicely. While UF users are adjusting, UD has changed a lot to welcome everyone, and it is a welcoming place from my observation. The reward system is different but recognizes all levels of engagement. Little things like reading posts, liking, receiving likes, posting, and many more things let users know they are valued. Ian and many others here were on UF daily helping others. Some names have changed here compared to UF, but under the hood, we are here. One other user I’m still looking for, hope to see on here soon. If I had his ph# I’d call him. Anyway, welcome!!
@ubername - I think it would be helpful for all to calm down a bit and take stock of where we are now.
UF was a brilliant forum and is sorely missed by most of the long-time members there. However, time marches on and if there is one thing I have learned in my 74 years it is that nothing lasts forever, life is a constant state of flux.
We can all try to make Discourse work for everybody, don’t forget, this board has suddenly had thrust upon it a massive amount of new incomers and it must be quite overwhelming for the volunteer moderators to administer. It will take time and patience from all in order for this to work. Let’s just all try and get along and adapt to the new way of doing things. I for one am very grateful to the Discourse people for accepting us on board in order to continue the good work of the sadly missed Ubuntu Forum.
Merry Christmas and have a great 2025 to all. Tony.
I would like to echo what @vidtek99 has said so well and add my own insights.
As former staff at UF I can say we had a special forum there but spam from new users was often an issue.
Initially, I was quite hesitant about the move to UD but after a few weeks I can say the following with pretty much 100% certainty:
- the volunteer moderators are doing a fantastic job trying to get everything organized and to integrate the best of UF here.
- we have access on UD to things that were not available on UF. In particular, access to projects and Canonical employees/developers. In my short time on UD I have learned new things that have elevated my knowledge of both Ubuntu in general and Linux more broadly. There is no substitute for this kind of access to those “in the know.”
Of course, there will be teething issues and even perhaps annoyances. But what forum does not have that?
My advice? Be patient, read through the various sub-sections and hopefully you will start to understand what an amazing resource UD is and will be in future.
Thanks all for taking the time to contribute I realised I was not in the right place when I read “spam from new users”. Long may this place go from strength to strength for those who are interested in Ubuntu as more than just an alternative OS but it is unlikely to become the “go to” resource for people who just Google “how do I change my desktop fonts in Ubuntu” or similar. Go well. I’m not impressed with your attitudes but not invested enough to argue the toss.
Whatever you decide enjoy life its to short to argue over little things to which sometimes we may not understand why things are done a certain way, I have been on the forum since February 2008 and a moderator since 2012 I believed and we received 100’s of spam posts a day and many other posts that needed moderation.
I personally have been a part of the forum transition team along with two of the other moderators you have seen post here and we adjusted the trust level as low as we could for the support and help category that the software will allow, Ian personally spent a lot of time trying to get the software to save the trust level setting at 0 but the software would not allow that setting and that is why everyone needs to read about 15 minutes of posts to be able to post here, that is the best compromise we could come up with and another member spent considerable time to find where the bot messages when you register are stored then rewrote them to make it as clear as possible what needs to be done to able to post.
To my knowledge you are the only user that has taken the need to read 15 minutes personally, please know we are doing our best and for 99.9 percent of users that is enough and you heard from users just like yourself comment here and no we did not ask them too they did that because they see the hard work and effort we all are putting into making this the best support site and community discussion as possible for Ubuntu.
The number of users coming here to ask for help is growing daily even during the Holidays so the transition is a success and the forum has not be very busy in years because of the software issues it was getting slower and slower by the month so it was imperative that the transition took place it was not done lightly and many many users including myself were hesitant in the beginning but I am very happy here and with the progress and in knowing the forums will live on here for a long time to come and not only survive but thrive because of the awesome people here.
We all have the same goal to make Ubuntu the best linux distribution we can and have the best community which I believe we do, I know it may not seem like it but we are very excepting of everyone but we do expect people to be nice and check there swords at the door, we are all volunteers no one gets paid to help anyone not even the moderators so it is not asking to much for users to be nice and to be grateful receiving free support while using a free Operating system, I have never seen any Operating system that is free then add free support on top of that except linux.
Enjoy your journey whatever road that takes you down and please allow fellow travelers to do the same.