Sorry if this is the wrong place for this.
I think the beginner-advanced paradigm hurts the OpenGL forum, because nobody wants to be a labeled a noob, and few of the seasoned OpenGL veterans actually want to be caught answering questions in the beginner’s forum. Instead, I believe there should be more specific forums that are inherently targeted at the beginner, more or less, but are not labeled as such, thus at least hold out the possibility for interesting discussion.
Developer:
Math:
questions and discussion related to the mathematics of 3D graphics.
Algorithms:
discussions concerning various algorithms used in 3D graphics.
Tools:
discussion of various graphics tools, such as those used for texture and model importing/exporting.
SDKs:
software development kits like GLUT and scene graph libraries like OpenSG that make use of OpenGL and facilitate window creation and the rendering of complex scenes.
OpenGL - Platform:
discussion of context creation, extension loading, and other platform-specific concerns.
OpenGL - General:
questions and discussions related to OpenGL proper, including use-cases, performance and best practices.
OpenGL - Beyond:
discussion of cutting-edge graphics techniques and applications using OpenGL.
OpenGL - Suggestion Box:
Ideas for the next version of OpenGL.
Bug Central:
Reporting of suspected driver bugs and implementation issues.
Anyway, it seems to me that the current structure is not very conducive to hearty discussion, since every question or topic is necessarily either “easy” or “hard”, with no middle ground and no real basis for determination. Imagine a physics forum over which Edward Witten presided: what would be “advanced” in that forum?
What do you guys think?
Regards,
Bill