@moderators Maybe is a good idea to open an offtopic category on forum? Time after time you can see a new threads about VPN/Privacy/Anonymity, why do you think is a bad idea to talk about these topics on forum?
Short answer: no 
Why:
Note that even the All around Qubes category is not supposed to allow off-topic.
How i understand basic on this post New "general admin, security & privacy" category? - #66 by deeplow, 8 people (trust level 2) decide in 2021 that is this idea a bad, so currently we have no way to discuss about privacy things on forum?
Maybe is a good idea to make a user vote? not only for trust level 2 group?
I think, it’s not. Fake accounts, trolls …
Considering the quality of “off-topic” entries I’ve seen here, I’d be against opening the doors to more.
I’d genuinely like to understand you.
So, can you please elaborate:
- why do you think it might be a good idea to open an offtopc category on forum?
- for whom exactly it might be a good idea to open an offtopc category on forum?
FWIW, my 2cents:
I actually agree with OP, the standard throwaway line of goto privacy guides does not really fit the bill. We are Qubes users and many people there may not get the qubes way of working/thinking (I personally don’t think of posting there for around-qubes topics).
Qubes is a security focused hypervisor. So people here are obviously going to be interestested in privacy / security topics and how they relate to qubes. Subjects such as security flaws in distros, age-verification, VPN’s, tor etc… directly impact us in qubes but don’t really have a home here also.
There are many subjects that I come across that I think would be important and interesting and would like to get feedback from other qubes users on, that don’t fit on privacy guides or other forums, as they are coming from a different angle.
I know its hard to moderate, and hard for mods to know where to draw the line, the All around Qubes category is a good start, but I do feel that there is a gap that could be filled with some really important / interesting topics.
PS. Most forums have a place where members can chat without being bound by the strict “user-support only” rules.
I mostly agree with @James369 . Wasn’t sure if I should post here, both sides have good arguments.
Qubes is a bit of a religion to me, and I’d love to talk with the community about stuff non Qubes or further to not much related to Qubes. My best argument here is that idk where to find other ppl that like Qubes, or like have that mindset that makes you like and use Qubes. This forum is highly technical so the conversations you can have here are much more interesting than in other forums. Ofc there are other forums but I don’t really want to hang out there. I dont want to hang out on privacyguides and like watch stuff I don’t really care about. I have this in my trusted browser VM (this forum) and its like what I always have open. So a bit of blabber about other stuff here would just be cool I think.
From what I understand there is an offtopic for level 2 ppl? I think I saw that in my old account once that I thiiiiink was level 2 but not sure… But I don’t see why we should not have that for everyone in the forum. I mean yeah more moderation and what not. I’d automate that away with AI I think LOL.
So long story short, if there were a vote I’d vote yes, just because I could post things I find interesting that are more or less Qubes related, and then talk about those. I think that would be cool.
That being said I get the admins arguments against it too. I still think its a good idea, and I’d like it and use it.
The gap has been very clear for several years now, basically another forum has to be created separate from the Qubes OS Forum. Everyone’s positions are clear, so someone simply needs to do the work to make it happen and to maintain it. I am more of a developer than an interlocutor at this point though, so even if another forum was created, I cannot guarantee frequent engagement from me.
See also:
Some threads was closed for “not qubes related”, but IMO were interesting.
For example:
I really doesn’t understand why we should limit users in their discuss. How you can see for moderation is better just a create separate category instead of closing threads.
Using Qubes you can create an crazy routing schemes like a double VPN + tor, triple proxy, etc … Its too hard/impossible to implement on any other distros. I do not support an idea about different forum, the Qubes community so high skilled, so i don’t know where i should found a people like here.
Thanks for your response, but it looks to me you didn’t answer either of my questions.
On "why’ I see “because it’s interesting to me” (I see no value in that even if it’s interesting to everyone, because most of us do that already in places dedicated to such topics). I think exact the opposite: such approach could create a bad image of Qubes OS itself, risking to be labeled just as Mullvad guy was on this very forum, on this very subject - off-topic! I hope you see my argument here.
On “to who it would benefit” you didn’t answer at all. I did answer it in my previous paragraph, stating it could harm actually.
Funnily enough, the biggest part of your response was about how Qubes can be used, which is not prohibited at all, on the contrary - it is encouraged.
So, your completely unclear response is confirming, when I am asked, that off-topics here are unnecessary.
To make it easier to realize the way this could be discussed is by simply transposing the situation to a hiring process and a job interview: “Why should I hire you? How that would benefit my company? What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses?” Where “you-your” is “off-topics on Qubes forum”
Cheers