Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uunet!voa3!ck
From: ck@voa3.UUCP (Chris Kern)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: Frequently Asked Questions file will not exist
Message-ID: <25@voa3.UUCP>
Date: 9 May 90 17:28:39 GMT
References: <1990May5.070317.11503@agate.berkeley.edu> <4084@muffin.cme.nist.gov> <1990May8.154907.26477@utzoo.uucp>
Reply-To: ck@voa3.UUCP (Chris Kern)
Organization: Voice of America, Washington, D.C.
Lines: 31

In article <1990May8.154907.26477@utzoo.uucp> henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer)
writes:

>. . . the reason the abbreviation "RTFM" exists is that people
>*don't read* the literature.  The usual result of this is that they post
>a query and it provokes two weeks of discussion, much of it ill-informed.

Precisely.  The problem has never been frequently-asked questions.
It is frequently-given answers, many of them sufficiently dubious
to (1) alert long-time subscribers to this group -- i.e., just about
everyone except the type of person who posts a frequently-asked
question -- to the fact that they are ill-informed and (2) provoke
corrections from others who do know the answer and who feel the need
to counteract the previous misinformation.

Perhaps what we need is a monthly posting that says something to the
effect: "Many questions about C are asked over and over.  Knowledgeable
subscribers to this group grow weary of them, and never post follow-ups,
although they may assist the original poster by replying via electronic
mail.  Therefore, if you post a question, only the mailed responses can
be considered reliable."

The regular subscribers will be able to distinguish between a legitimate
and a bogus thread, the newcomers will be warned -- and maybe those who
habitually rise to the bait of a frequently-asked question will show
some restraint in the interest of avoiding the stigma of being
considered less than knowledgeable.

-- 
Chris Kern			     Voice of America, Washington, D.C.
...uunet!voa3!ck					+1 202-485-7020