Where to ask/discuss questions about using JavaFX

[Mark Raynsford]

I've tried to remain impartial, although some of the pros/cons might be
biased ("Only accessible via a web browser" might not be a con to some,
for example).

> This leads us to the question where such discussions (between JavaFX
> developers) should take place. There are a number of options:

> 1. A mailinglist (e.g. this one, openjfx-discuss, or another one)

Pros:
  * Free (as in beer, and in speech)
  * Searchable, persistent history
  * Infrastructure controlled by JavaFX organization
  * Moderation controlled by JavaFX organization
  * Accessible without proprietary clients
  * Wide choice of clients (MUAs)

Cons:
  * Not realtime-capable (no "chat")

> 2. Keep it on Stackoverflow

Pros:
  * Free (as in beer)
  * Searchable, persistent history
  * Accessible without proprietary clients

Cons:
  * Infrastructure not controlled by JavaFX organization
  * Moderation not controlled by JavaFX organization
  * Moderation actively hostile (!)
  * Not realtime-capable (no "chat")
  * Only accessible via a web browser

> 3. Gitter

Pros:
  * Free (as in beer)
  * Searchable, persistent history
  * Moderation controlled by JavaFX organization
  * Accessible without proprietary clients
  * Accessible via any IRC client
  * Realtime-capable ("chat")
  * Accessible without extra accounts if you already have a GitHub,
    GitLab, or Twitter account.
  * GitHub integration (possibly only useful for developer discussion)

Cons:
  * Infrastructure not controlled by JavaFX organization

> 4. A Slack channel

Pros:
  * Searchable, persistent history (with caveats)
  * Moderation controlled by JavaFX organization
  * Realtime-capable ("chat")
  * GitHub integration (possibly only useful for developer discussion)

Cons:
  * Not free beyond a certain number of messages (access to history
    requires a paid subscription beyond 10,000 messages).
  * Infrastructure not controlled by JavaFX organization
  * Inaccessible without proprietary clients (web access via a
    notoriously heavyweight proprietary web application)

> 5. IRC

Pros:
  * Free (as in beer, and in speech, depending on the host)
  * Moderation controlled by JavaFX organization
  * Accessible without proprietary clients
  * Wide choice of clients
  * Realtime-capable ("chat")

Cons:
  * No searchable, persistent history (unless running a logging bot
    counts)
  * Infrastructure (possibly) not controlled by JavaFX organization

> 6. ?

The other options such as Discord and similar applications seem to have
similar pros/cons as Gitter and Slack depending on the business model
of the company involved. I'm not sure there are any other options in
active use. Pure web-based forums seem to be slowly dying in favour of
the threaded models presented by the various Slack-likes.

-- 
Mark Raynsford | http://www.io7m.com