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From: bhoughto@pima.intel.com (Blair P. Houghton)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: Stuck-up Wizards (Re: Summary and Fix for "slashes in filenames")
Message-ID: <2507@inews.intel.com>
Date: 13 Feb 91 20:47:08 GMT
References: <832@nddsun1.sps.mot.com> <2428@inews.intel.com> <15161@smoke.brl.mil>
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In article <15161@smoke.brl.mil> gwyn@smoke.brl.mil (Doug Gwyn) writes:
>In article <2428@inews.intel.com> bhoughto@pima.intel.com (Blair P. Houghton) writes:
>>The only thing more annoying than frequently-asked questions
>>is derogatory flames of frequently-asked questions.
>
>No, another annoying thing is people who respond without thinking.

Your self-deprecation is showing, Doug.

And you didn't mean "without thinking," you meant "without
knowing."  I doubt anyone ever posts without thinking, and
I'm certain noone ever posts with full knowledge of the
topic and the long-term, residual influence of their
posting.  In between those two extremes is a vast hierarchy
of newsgroups, networked machinery, and logged-in people
who occasionally help each other.

>Frequently-asked questions are NOT appropriate for comp.unix.wizards;
>that's why the newsgroup comp.unix.questions exists.

What of questions that deal with "wizardly" issues that
appear to repeat occasionally when one or the other of the
"wizards" doesn't bother to archive and study comp.unix.wizards
articles?

Or do you claim to know the magic determinant for when a question
is a question and when it is an incantation to invoke the wizards?

Moot point.  Appropriateness is not the issue on which I deride.
Attitude toward inappropriateness, is.

Simply answer the question, explain that it's an oldie,
show the factotum the way to comp.unix.questions,
comp.unix.programmer, comp.lang.c et al, and nod your head
condescendingly when he says, in his childlike sincerity
"thanks, O prestidigitatory one!"

It'd save our n-keys a shitload of skipping of the one thing
more frequent than any question or class of questions.

				--Blair
				  "There are no stupid questions;
				   only flames of valid questions."

Ob. sycophancy:  When was the last time Chris Torek posted
especially to complain about the appropriateness of a question?
When was the last time he complained, period?  Seems to me he's
got the right approach to this stuff.