PLIG Infrastructure
Needs
Live Discussion
There is an IRC channel on freenode called #plig, feel free to join and discuss PLIG there until we get other infrastructure running!
Forums
There is a diversity of opinion on what sort of forum is best. Web-based? Email-list based? NNTP-based? List possibilities along with strengths and weaknesses here.
Email list(s)
Everyone has an email client, and discussion gets pushed out to everyone that's subscribed. No need to visit a web site to stay active in a discussion.
Discussion threads aren't as accessible to new subscribers to the list, and may be lost entirely without a good archiver.
Harder to separate out threads you're interested in. Someone planning to work through a book in the future might not want to see all the current 'spoilers', but we don't want to manage hundreds of lists.
GMANE
Provides web and nntp access to an email list. The interface is out of our hands, but has lots of nice features, including RSS.
Same pros and cons as email.
Web Forum
Depending on the forum, it can be easy to only pay attention to threads you're interested in. Little or no email access.
Programming Challenges
These could be handled via email/forums or with something like a wiki. A wiki would allow for annotation of entries. Another option would be a shared source control system with a web interface. This could be nice for showing how programs developed over time.
Sample Programs
A wiki or web-enabled source control system would probably be best for this.
Presentations
An email announcement list, a web calendar, and web/file storage space for storing presentation material and recordings.