Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!hplabs!hpda!hpcuhc!hpsemc!gph From: gph@hpsemc.HP.COM (Paul Houtz) Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions Subject: Re: Frequently asked questions in these groups deserve a monthly posting Message-ID: <810064@hpsemc.HP.COM> Date: 7 Jun 89 16:22:55 GMT References: <21089@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu> Organization: HP Technology Access Center, Cupertino, CA Lines: 64 tale@pawl.rpi.edu (David C Lawrence) writes: >Anyone who still thinks we don't need this posting probably has not been >reading this group for more than a month; here comes the latest round >of "Why is grep named the way it is?", one of the questions answered >in news.announce.newusers:Answers to Frequently Asked Questions. Now Wrong. I have been reading this group for over a year. I still don't really see a need for it. However, I use Notes to read the news, and I can easily skip from title to title by using the key. I have never had a problem with people posting the same question repetively. When I see a question I have seen before, I just type L. Perhaps you should consider the idea of making your newsreader a little friendlier, rather than trying to reduce the communication in this newsgroup? You see, for every guru like yourself that has read this group for years, there are probably 2 or 3 new people reading the group every month. Unix people claim to want to spread the word about unix to the world, yet I keep seeing attempts to make it difficult for new people to get involved, rather than attempts to make it easier. Here is the scenario that happens in many ways all the time: New user hears about usenet from a friend. New user has this question he has been wondering about for some time, and he sees this group called comp.unix.questions. So, he posts his question, thinking that there are a bunch of friendly people out there that want to help. He doesn't know about news.announce.newusers, or worse, he does know, but there is nothing in the group to read (as at our site, most of the time). Instead of getting a friendly reply to his question, some old expert says, "Hey! I am really sick and tired of you young kids posting questions that have been asked before. Read the summary and get a life." Don't tell me it won't happen, because I know it will. Now the new user has a pretty bad taste in his mouth about the whole comp.unix.questions newsgroup. And about the so-called gurus. 'nuff said. New users out number the crusty old guru's on this system by a fair margin now, and that ration will only INCREASE in the future(if unix is going to catch on like the "gurus" say it will). So maybe we should look into making this group more helpful to the MAJORITY of the readership (new users). My suggestion is to change the TONE of the posting, not remove it. Make it more appropriate to the readership of the group, i.e., users who have only been reading it for less than a year. Make it possible for them to at least see that anyone who flames them for posting a FAQ is in the WRONG. Say in the warning that it is NOT NECESSARY to read this list before posting, that it is only a CONVENIENCE. Then say explicitly that anyone who flames a person for posting a FAQ is IN THE WRONG. Paul Houtz HP Technology Access Center 10670 N. Tantau Avenue Cupertino, Ca 95014 (408) 725-3864 hplabs!hpda!hpsemc!gph gph%hpsemc@hplabs.HP.COM