Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!auspex!guy
From: guy@auspex.auspex.com (Guy Harris)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Subject: Re: Frequently asked questions in these groups deserve a monthly posting
Message-ID: <1785@auspex.auspex.com>
Date: 8 Jun 89 19:16:02 GMT
References: <21089@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu> <810064@hpsemc.HP.COM>
Reply-To: guy@auspex.auspex.com (Guy Harris)
Organization: Auspex Systems, Santa Clara
Lines: 27

>    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.

You still haven't given any solid evidence that the posting is so
horrible! As I pointed out already, it *quite explicitly* says "don't
flame people who've asked these questions".  You're probably going to
get some flames sent anyway; I see no indication that the posting will
necessarily *increase* the likelihood of them, and it may damp them down
if people *do* read the part that says "don't flame".

However, the posting should actively encourage people to read the
posting first; if it just says "well, if you don't want to read this, go
ahead and post anyway", it's kind of pointless to make the posting in
the first place. 

Remember that the gurus are NOT the only ones helped by this posting!  A
novice who reads the posting is probably going to get their answer
sooner than one who posts; the purpose, after all, of any such posting
is to get an answer, not just to post for the sake of posting.

Furthermore, if it cuts down on the number of *answers* posted, both
novices *and* gurus win.  The volume of traffic is cut down by reducing
the number of repeated postings of even correct answers, making it
easier for all to read the group, and the volume of *in*correct answers
is cut down as well, which *really* helps novices, who may not be
knowledgable enough to know that the answer *is* incorrect.