Timwi wrote:
[about helpdesk-l]
The moderation queue is being cleaned out, so there are a *lot* of new messages to answer. You can subscribe to the list at:
A mailing list is chronically unsuitable for the task that helpdesk-l is trying to solve. In order to answer someone's question everyone has to remember to send the reply back to the user and not just to the list. Potential follow-ups from that user then go to the answerer and not to the mailing list. There is no real way to get a glimpse of what queries are as yet unanswered. Since anyone can subscribe to the list and reply to questions, and replies cannot be edited by other users, the requestor has no way of knowing how authoritative or accurate the answer is. A lesser problem is the potential of the user receiving several (possibly contradicting) replies from different users.
An issue-tracking system would be vastly more appropriate. Perhaps best would be a system like LiveJournal Support, or perhaps exactly that system. The system knows what requests are answered and unanswered (open and closed), the question and the answer(s) can be seen on one page, the user's follow-up reply is on the same page, etc.etc.
Ah, you want Bugzilla! :)
(Why go for a proprietary solution when a free one will work just as well! And even if LiveJournal Support *is* free, we already use Bugzilla and know how to set it up and use it...)