[ensembl-dev] Dev Digest, Vol 5, Issue 18

[Andreas Kahari]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for your concerns.

On Mon, Nov 15, 2010 at 12:41:27PM +0000, Steve Moss wrote:
> Hi Glenn,
> 
> My apologies, I didn't realise that the developer list was for
> trouble-shooting issues, I thought it was for code orientated questions.

I don't see a difference really.  If someone is writing code that makes
use of our API, and has some form of problem, this is a good place to
bring it up.  If privacy is sought, then they should use the helpdesk
(helpdesk at ensembl.org).

> Personally I think it would have been quicker to email the EnsEMBL
> helpdesk for an answer or post in a common place on a community board,
> but I'm not really used to using mailing lists, so perhaps I'm biased
> towards other mediums?

API-related questions will sooner or later be forwarded from the
helpdesk to the very same people that keep their eyes on this list
(myself and a few others).

> I agree though, that troubleshooting can aid community members, but
> surely a central troubleshooting document online would make more sense
> to search for common problems than scouring through emails?

Problem solving is not a one-way communication.

It is immensely useful for us to see problems that people have.  If some
users suddenly need to do something that our API does not allow them to
do in a convenient way, then we would want to know about it to be able
to discuss and possibly implement a solution for them.  Our users are
not stupid, they are more often more inventive than we are, and we need
to cater for their needs.

Also, even though we do test our API continuously, errors are bound to
slip though from time to time, and it would be great to have these (or
any performance issues etc.) pointed out and discussed, either publicly
here or via the helpdesk (helpdesk at ensembl.org).

With kind regards,
Andreas


> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Steve
> 
> 
> > Message: 3
> > Date: Mon, 15 Nov 2010 09:35:56 +0000
> > From: Glenn Proctor <glenn at ebi.ac.uk>
> > Subject: Re: [ensembl-dev] Problem in Running Ensembl Core API
> >        (Urjaswita      Yadav)...
> > To: dev at ensembl.org
> > Message-ID:
> >        <AANLkTin3zWQ6SWOS_VysqucWRm0dHz5toe9QtAv0Pa2Q at mail.gmail.com>
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
> >
> > Lists such as dev at ensembl.org are intended precisely for this sort of
> > discussion, so that all list members can see and learn from it.
> >
> > Regards
> >
> > Glenn.
> >
> 
> -- 
> Kindest regards,
> 
> Steve Moss
> http://stevemoss.ath.cx

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-- 
Andreas Kähäri, Ensembl Software Developer
European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI)
Wellcome Trust Genome Campus
Hinxton, Cambridge CB10 1SD, United Kingdom