Schedule of events

[mosslack]

As of February 26th, all of the invitations for the switch to the new HQ-A Yahoo groups (YG) will have been sent out. That means the last invitations will expire March 26th. At that time, the old HQ-A Google group (GG) will no longer be used (posting permission will be set to moderation for everyone). On or about  March 13th, a daily message will be sent out to remind everyone of the switch and coming deadline. Also at that time, messages posted on HQ-A (GG) will no longer be forwarded to HQ-A (YG). 

Originally I was going to delete HQ-A (GG) once this time period had passed, but now I think I will leave it as is, at least until I can figure out how to preserve the archives. I have not looked into this yet so there may be an easy way to do it. If anyone knows, please pass this info along. Thanks!

From the main system of mosslack...

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[mosslack]

On Feb 25, 2013, at 7:05 AM, wove wrote:

In my view of the "New Google Groups", you can use the "gear" icon in the upper right corner of the page to change settings. The last item in the list of actions is "Revert to old Google Groups". Perhaps that depends on the browser you use or on how long you have been using the new groups. In my case I am able to use either the new groups or the old groups.

 

If you have this option perhaps you can switch to the old groups and access the archives.

 

bill

Yes, I am able to use the old Google groups to view the archives, but the point is, at some time in the near future Google will do away with the old style Google groups and then what happens to them? As I mentioned, I can find no way to access them within the new interface. 

[Kris Tilford]

On Feb 25, 2013, at 8:03 AM, mosslack wrote:

> at some time in the near future Google will do away with the old
> style Google groups and then what happens to them?

Has Google said something to about this? I'd hate to do this migration
based upon an internet rumor. Google Groups came about with Google
bought Deja News, the Usenet archive. The archive of all the Usenet
groups were converted into Google Groups. Google can't kill off Usenet.

Also, the Wikipedia article on Google Groups seems up-to-date, and it
mentions nothing about Google migrating "old style Groups" to Google+?

I've been members of both Google Groups and Yahoo Groups for years. I
see no advantage to this change, and many disadvantages. Our bicycle
club is considering killing our Yahoo Groups group because of delayed
messages which causes people to miss rides. The file storage of Yahoo
Groups is miniscule and forced the group Mac Drivers Museum to split
into multiple groups just to store a few hundred MB of old software
drivers.

I think this group is already too fragmented across different
locations and platforms, and need to consolidate to a "one stop
shopping" experience. I don't believe Yahoo Groups is this experience.
Google Groups seems as good as it gets to me, and this notion that
Google is somehow going to kill off groups seems highly unlikely? I've
done several Google searches trying to find any source for this notion
that Google will "do away the old style Google Groups" and find
nothing? Citation please.

[mosslack]

On Feb 25, 2013, at 2:14 PM, Kris Tilford wrote:

On Feb 25, 2013, at 8:03 AM, mosslack wrote:

at some time in the near future Google will do away with the old style Google groups and then what happens to them?

Has Google said something to about this? I'd hate to do this migration based upon an internet rumor. Google Groups came about with Google bought Deja News, the Usenet archive. The archive of all the Usenet groups were converted into Google Groups. Google can't kill off Usenet.

Also, the Wikipedia article on Google Groups seems up-to-date, and it mentions nothing about Google migrating "old style Groups" to Google+?

If you go to the Home page for HQ-A in Google groups, and you are currently using the old interface, you will see a message at the top which reads:

The old Google Groups will be going away soon., followed by a link to switch to the new interface. Not sure how much clearer this message could be.

While I have not read anything official about Google plans to migrate groups into Google+, there have been rumors to that effect. Plus it's just a sense I get about it from past Google actions. But as I said, that was just one of the reasons for this switch.

I've been members of both Google Groups and Yahoo Groups for years. I see no advantage to this change, and many disadvantages. Our bicycle club is considering killing our Yahoo Groups group because of delayed messages which causes people to miss rides. The file storage of Yahoo Groups is miniscule and forced the group Mac Drivers Museum to split into multiple groups just to store a few hundred MB of old software drivers.

I think this group is already too fragmented across different locations and platforms, and need to consolidate to a "one stop shopping" experience. I don't believe Yahoo Groups is this experience. Google Groups seems as good as it gets to me, and this notion that Google is somehow going to kill off groups seems highly unlikely? I've done several Google searches trying to find any source for this notion that Google will "do away the old style Google Groups" and find nothing? Citation please.

Kris you are an experienced user as I've known of you for a long time on this and other groups. I'm sure you've had a Google identity (and Yahoo for that matter), for some time. But what about the newbie who is just getting started and is confused about where to go for Hackintosh information. He/she sees HQ-A pop up in a web search and decides they want to join so they go to the Google groups page for HQ-A. Imagine their shock when they look for a link to join the group, but it isn't there. If you don't believe me, log into that page without the browser you are using being logged into your Google account. To me, this is just arrogance on the part of Google to think that everyone already has a Google account, or even wants one for that matter. And while I suppose it is still possible to join via email (It worked from one account for me, but not from a different account), there is nothing on the page which explains this. 

If you have a Google account, but you are not a member of HQ-A, a box will appear which says Join group to post, but if not, then it isn't clear at all how to join. There is a box with some strange markings which leads you to log into Google+. Only if you click on About will you see any indication of how to join the group and that is only the Contact owner link by the Group email section. As I said, this was just the final straw which lead to my decision.

As for fragmentation, I run this group by myself and have very little help when it comes to promotion or the daily day-to-day operations. Peter does help monitor the posts when one appears in the moderation queue, but it's unfair of me to ask any more of him. His contributions to the group are obvious. It has been my goal to do this without Google whenever possible as the past indicates that whatever service it is, it may not be here tomorrow. Yahoo groups have been around far longer and it is my belief that they just do a better job when it comes to this particular aspect. 

[mosslack]

As of about 3 hours ago, invitations have been sent to all those on the HQ-A (GG) roster that accept invitations and have a functioning email address. If you did not receive one, and would like to have one, please send me a note to this effect and I will see that you get one. The invitations are not a requirement to join the new Yahoo group, they are merely a convenience. The various ways to join HQ-A (YG) are explained here.

At this time, all new topics of conversation on HQ-A should be posted to hq...@yahoogroups.com. Messages posted to HQ-A (GG) will be forwarded to HQ-A (YG) until March 13th. At that time, the forwarding will stop and will be replaced with a daily message explaining about the switch to Yahoo groups.

Then on March 26th, posting permission for HQ-A (GG) will be set to managers only, and that will be the end of the HQ-A (GG) era. The group will not be deleted until I'm certain that the archives have been secured.

I do want to thank everyone for their patience and understanding during this process. I've tried to make the switch as painless as possible, but it simply had to be done for the good of the group, not to mention my sanity.