Making the forum more usable/active

All ...

I'm surprised at the level of inactivity, number of unanswered posts, number of spam posts, etc. In part I think the forum software is to blame, and could/should be remedied.

For a start having to provide a CAPTCHA for every post seems like overkill ... and given the presence of spam posts doesn't seem to be working. It would probably be far more conducive to creating an active forum if users didn't have such a barrier, and that spammers could be reported, and dealt with (banned, and posts deleted).

The old adage of "build it and they will come" seems appropriate here, Alpine needs to develop a self-supporting community and it is places like the forum in which this can happen. If, for whatever reason, users come and no answer is provided, or very little seems to be happening, then the chances are they don't return. It is important to create the sort of environment where self-support can take root, as it spreads out the burden, creates a dynamic of reciprocality, etc, etc. That doesn't seem to be happening, for whatever reason, but there is probably something that could be done about it (delegation of responsibilities, forum redesign/configuring, better procedures for dealing with spam/spammers, etc). Yes, that all requires effort, but the downside of not doing this is that you fail to create something with can sustain itself, users are the most valuable resource a distribution can develop, and so it seems appropriate to provide the sort of environment in which this can happen.

best ... khay