GitHub issue template: redirect users to Google Groups, Stack Overflow, etc.

[asterite]

Yesterday I wanted to discuss a new feature in Elixir so I went to their issue tracker and hit the New Issue button. I found this in the issue template:

### Precheck

* Do not use the issues tracker for help or support (try Elixir Forum, Stack Overflow, IRC, etc.)
* For proposing a new feature, please start a discussion on the Elixir Core mailing list
* For bugs, do a quick search and make sure the bug has not yet been reported
* Finally, be nice and have fun!

I really like this. With this, the issue tracker doesn't become cluttered with issues that are not planned to be tackled by the core team, or anyone else ( for example #5074 ), and which probably deserve more discussion before being turned into a good "formal" proposal.

I like this even better than a repository for RFCs because it's more informal and it's just "let's discuss this idea I have". We could later have an RFCs repository with more formal proposals, though.

[Papierkorb]

What about having the link to at least one (e.g., Gitter channel) in there? Or would that be too noisy?

[asterite]

You can just search that on Google. I did the same when I wanted to submit a discussion for elixir.

[asterite]

So yes, I think it's too noisy

[mverzilli]

I like this!

What about having the link to at least one (e.g., Gitter channel) in there? Or would that be too noisy?

Maybe we can link to: https://crystal-lang.org/community/, that'll always be an index for all community channels.

I like this even better than a repository for RFCs because it's more informal and it's just "let's discuss this idea I have". We could later have an RFCs repository with more formal proposals, though.

If we create an RFC repository, it should have some sort of issue template as well. So if your idea is mature enough to merit an RFC, you should take the time to properly fill the template. Otherwise, it's more appropriate for a more informal channel (like the mailing list).

[asterite]

I like https://crystal-lang.org/community/ but I don't know how to change the template so that it reads well with links and such. But if someone wants to create another PR with this, please do so.

[RX14]

I think that this is a bad idea, we don't have a history of discussing new features (stdlib additions or syntax) on the mailinglist and much less people read the mailinglist than follow the issue tracker. It's also harder to use for some people (less experience with mailinglists).

[RX14]

Not that i'm against using the mailinglist, per se. But it feels like we should at least eat our own dogfood of suggesting ideas on the mailinglist for a while before we include it as advice to all contributors.

[asterite]

That's the whole point: to start doing it in the google groups list. I mean, what do we do with issues that are "- What do you think about X? - Well, maybe someday...". Do we close them or do we keep them open forever because maybe one day someone will implement them?

[straight-shoota]

If you have such proposals rotting somewhere in the mailinglist archive, it's much worse than just closing them on Github. There is no easy way to organize and keep track of feature suggestions on the mailing list.

[RX14]

We duplicate this advice in Submitting bugs below.

[straight-shoota]

I think it's a good thing to have this include a link to the community page.

But I'd suggest to discuss the procedure for new features separately and keep the status quo until there is a decision about this. I don't think the general mailing list is a good place for feature discussion. One reason for this being that talking about features and implementing them is naturally tightly connected - having two completely different platforms would be a major disturbance I think.

[asterite]

Nevermind :-P

[bew]

The first line was fine though:

Do not use the issues tracker for help or support (try Crystal Google Groups, Stack Overflow, Gitter, IRC, etc.)

I think we should at least add something like that to the issue template

[ghost]

I do not like the idea redirecting users to a whole lot of places for questions

• crystal is still pre 1.0 and things change
• not many crystal experts out there

thus:
it is better to keep crystal questions in a crystal specific area to 1. get high quality answers and 2. help discover already answered questions 3. know about your user base

having experts and people that know the language at the places where questions are asked is important for two main reasons

• people think the language is bad although the answer was just bad (+ bad patterns evolve/ inefficient code)
• people come back to this repo anyway because they do not get quality answers elsewhere

You can just search that on Google. I did the same when I wanted to submit a discussion for elixir.

this sounds especially like a reason to include the link, otherwise the template could just say "go away anywhere but not here we do not care about your question" (and this is probably not the intended meaning)