On 2008-07-16, 69_rs_ss <69_rs_ss@forums.opensuse.org> wrote:
> dragonbite wrote:
>> Wondered about having a localized section, whether it be like “Northeast
>> USA” or specific states (“MA”,“NY”, etc.).
>>
>> The idea/purpose behind this is so people can try and find other users
>> in their local area, discuss LUGs, install-fests, etc.
>>
>> Some people may prefer a face-to-face assistance (at both party’s
>> agreement) instaed of the forums.
>>
>> A side benefit can also be if somebody is going on a trip (business,
>> personal, etc.) and wants to find somebody from the area (meet,
>> questions, good restaurant, etc.) it could help narrow it down instead
>> of “Anybody from NYC” in the general forums.
> We as staff can take that into consideration but just keep in mind that
> this is an international board so if we broke things down to state for
> the US then we would need to break it down to providences in Canada and
> by country in Europe, South America, etc.
I’m sure that just came out wrong, and wasn’t meant wrong. (see, I’m PC 
Countries in Europe and South America are not equivalent to states in the US,
nor provinces in Canada. They are equivalent to the USA or Canada.
Just in case someone wonders what I’m talking about:
Continent: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continents
Country: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries
So, the USA form a country. One of 3 on the continent of North America.
(Canada, US, Mexico)
There are small ones: (my own) Belgium (Europe), Finland (Europe), Japan
(Asia), Venezuela (South America), Senegal (Africa), Nepal (Asia), New
Zealand (Australia).
There are large ones:
China (Asia), Russian federation (across Europe and Asia), Australia
(Australia), Brazil (South America).
But they’re all countries.
Most of these countries do have regions that subdivise them. Of course, if a
coutry is very small, there’s little point to distinguish them. But then
again, making a difference by US ‘state’ wouldn’t allways be meaningfull.
You might have US specifics (keyboards, electrical tension and frequency,
federal regulations on encryption and (c) protection and so on. Those are
mostly common over the ‘states’ and it would reduce exchanges if split up in
many groups.
> Another way of helping at least for now is by using tags. Say there is a
> thread about a LUG in NYC you could add the tags LUG and NYC to it for
> easier searching ability via the web.
I would encourage that solution, as it would not only avoid too many groups
with to little life in them. It would also allow for crossover ideas between
continents, countries and regions.
–
The sand remembers once there was beach and sunshine
but chip is warm too
– haiku from Effector Online, Volume 1, Number 6