MATLAB: Is the Answers sections becoming a glorified Newsgroup

Question

I was under the impression that the Answers Forum and the Newsgroup Forum were to be two distinct entities.

The Newsgroup answering folks questions on issues with specific Matlab issues to their problems and the Answers Forum offering more global issues with respect to Matlab.

It seems to me that the majority of submissions to the Answers forum should be submitted to the Newsgroup and in a lot of cases, desperate folks are posting to both.

So, my general question to this group, is there any value to the Answers forum?

As a professional, trying to promote Matlab in my field, I am finding the two forums starting to compete for my time. As a professional, time is limited. I do not want to have to search two forums.

I think Answers was a nice try, but without some sort of control on what is posted, this is simply becoming a second Newsgroup.

So, I ask again, what value is there in having two forums when one when works?

Answer 1

The Answers forum is intended to be MATLAB / Simulink specific, and is not intended to be a location for discussions of theory and algorithms. It was not intended to be anything about "global issues with respect to MATLAB".

The Answers forum is controlled by Mathworks, as is the software that runs it. The rules are Mathworks' rules. Mathworks works to enhance the presentation software to provide convenience and value. The Answers forum is monitored by volunteers and postings that are clearly inappropriate (such as Turkish streaming soccer) are removed. However, the volunteers are not usually strict when it comes to algorithms and theory, especially for smaller algorithms and small bits of theory. Postings that ask big algorithm or theory questions are sometimes replied to saying to do the research, sometimes "closed", and often just left sitting there until someone gets some Round Tuits.

The Newsgroup is not under an anyone's control. Usenet is more or less cooperative distributed anarchy. If someone posts to the MATLAB newsgroup asking for the history of The Hamburgler, there is not much that can be done. The guidelines for the MATLAB Newsgroup were established long ago and are probably mostly obsolete and are mostly ignored anyhow. There is a software protocol for the exchange of Usenet messages from system to system, but there are no standards for what client readers should do, and not much room to make meaningful improvements.