There are two things to be said about the Dojo Javascript Toolkit:

1) Is is a very ( if not the most) complete Javascipt framework out there.
2) It is poorly ( if not the poorest ) documented framework out there.

It took Dojo a year ( or actually closer to two years) before they finally put up a forum, so users could help each other out with sample code and the like. It was, pardon my french, half assed forum software, but still.. a forum! Hurray! Finally!

But then.. disaster struck.
The forum got spammed more and more. And 'the contributors' disliked the forums interface. And 'the contributors' couldn't monitor all forums all the time.

So what do you do? You obtain better forum software. You sit down, think for a bit and then realise that the users are the real contributors of your forum, not a handful of people who 'can answer questions'. Once you realise this you kindly ask a few people who post often and of good quality if they would like  to moderate. The moderators clean up, users get answers, the original 'handful of contributors' can do other things. ( like provide better sample code for instance)

Yeah. That's  what you and me would probably do, because after all.. it's the users that make the difference, right?

But not the Dojo people.  They decided that the best thing to do was to close down the forum. And go back to, [drumroll] a mailing list for support!. Because, and I quote: 'contributors would prefer a solution that pushes questions to them'........

Dear Dojo people..

MAILING LISTS SUCK!

BIGTIME!

We don't care what your contributors prefer, what matters is what your USERS prefer!
USERS! Remember that word, they are important to your continuity!


My suggestion to all Dojo people:
Get a copy of 'Why software sucks' by David S. Platte.
Read it.
And weep.

In the meantime I'm going to switch over to Ext JS. They seem to have their priorities straight.
I'm sorry Dojo guys.. I've just had it now..

Update (March 3, 2010)
Two things:

1. I have not regretted switching over to Extjs for one second.
2. The dojo guys now have something they call a 'forum'. In reality it is just an archive of the mailinglist. They still don't get it.