Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!rochester!uhura.cc.rochester.edu!akk2
From: akk2@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Atul Kacker)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: NEC Hard Drive
Message-ID: <914@ur-cc.UUCP>
Date: 21 Feb 89 13:46:51 GMT
References: <15@dbase.UUCP> <8400010@gistdev> <7324@june.cs.washington.edu>
Reply-To: akk2@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Atul Kacker)
Distribution: usa
Organization: University of Rochester
Lines: 35

In article <7324@june.cs.washington.edu> robertb@uw-june.UUCP (Robert Bedichek) writes:
>
   [ deleted flame from Dirk Pellett ]
>
>I used to work for Intel and go to Intel scrap sales.  There were a lot
>of good deals there, almost never documentation for the stuff, and I'm
>sure none of it was stolen!  

Maybe Dirk went a little too far in his flame, but I can understand some of
his frustration.  There have been several postings of the nature - "I don't
have docs, what do I do ?" in this newsgroup lately.  Most of the problem
stems from the fact that easier access to the net has brought it within the
reach of people who have had little exposure to electronic networks and 
the etiquette that has to be followed. 

Many of these people consider the net to be their personal yellow pages or
encyclopedia brittanica.  They are too lazy to look up computer rags or 
consult their telephone books.  There is NO REASON for postings that ask for
telephone numbers of companies - THAT'S WHAT DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE IS THERE FOR!
If you have a hard disk and don't have specs - CALL THE COMPANY FIRST!  If after
calling you still can't find the answer, then ask for assistance on the net.

It is also the responsibility of local system administrators to tell their
new users about what is and what isn't OK on the net, before they grant them
free access to the network.  A copy of netiquette from the Unix user's guide
should be a first step.  Users should be made to read this before posting
anything.  Perhaps even a no-posting period of one month for new users would
be good.  It will give them a chance to see other postings and get a feel of
what's right.
 

-- 
Atul Kacker  |     Internet: akk2@uhura.cc.rochester.edu
             |     UUCP: {ames,cmcl2,decvax,rutgers}!rochester!ur-cc!akk2
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