Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!tektronix!tekcrl!tekgvs!keithe
From: keithe@tekgvs.GVS.TEK.COM (Keith Ericson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: How to ask for info
Message-ID: <4384@tekgvs.GVS.TEK.COM>
Date: 17 Dec 88 01:20:04 GMT
References: <454@ur-cc.UUCP> <1545@micomvax.UUCP>
Reply-To: keithe@tekgvs.GVS.TEK.COM (Keith Ericson)
Organization: Tektronix, Inc., Beaverton,  OR.
Lines: 55

In article <1545@micomvax.UUCP> ray@micomvax.UUCP (Ray Dunn) writes:
>...
>There is one interesting fact about this particular newsgroup however.  The
>question to answer ratio would appear to be very high compared with other
>groups (with a few notable exceptions every now and again).
>
>*Many* questions go by unanswered publicly, and if my own experience is
>anything to go by, privately too.
>
>Is this because the volume in the newsgroup inhibits replying?  I know there
>are many questions I could answer if only I could budget the time.

There are lots of questions I could contribute to, too.  Reasons I don't
respond to all of them:

	1. ALL of them?  Sorry, but I *do* have to at least take a potty
	   break now and then  :-)

	2. Surely I'm not the *only* one with an answer, so I usually don't
	   respond to posters on the other side of the continent (I'm on the
	   west coast (of the United States)) much less the other side of an
	   ocean.  I figure someone "more local" can respond.

	3. One wearies of seeing the same questions asked every month or so.
	   I honestly think that we need a "Answers to Commonly Asked
	   Questions (so Don't Ask It Again)" available for every new reader
	   (with a quiz at the end before they're allowed to post.  1/2 :-) ).

	4. "Please reply by mail because I don't usually read this group" 
	   translates into "I'm too damn lazy to look into this myself so
	   how about someone else doing my research for me?" and results in 
	   the question getting electronically round-filed, unless a promise
	   to post a summary of responses is included.  

Things that prompt me to reply (mail or post):

	A. I recognize the requestor as having actively contributed to earlier
	   discussions.  Sorry, this may be biased, but that's just the way
	   it is.  Think of it as "paying your dues" and save the "keith,
	   you're a snob (or slob)" flames for /dev/null.

	B. The requestor is "local" where the definition of "local" is time-
	   (and mood-) variant and modified by A., above.  Part of this is
	   not wanting to spend lots of other people's/companies' money on
	   'phone calls.  (You know, of course, that UNIX is just AT&T's
	   way of increasing telephone-call revenues, don't you? :-) )

Things that prompt me to reply (post):

	C. Some really incorrect information needs to be set right.

	D. The information may be of use/importance to a wide audience, more
	   than just the individual requestor.

keith