guido@boring.UUCP (07/23/85)
This is a follow-up to the third explanation in a row of the same novice's question by a reputed expert. The number of duplicate postings, silly questions and endless debates in net.lang.c is growing steady these days. (Not to mention the service that net.lang.c offers to info-cpm who seem to have lost their own group by unfortunate hardware events.) Although I am comforted by the idea that Henry Spence, Chris Torek and Doug Gwyn are still taking the time to read it, I would appreciate it if they (and others) would hold back before posting an answer to a declared novice's question to the public. Perhaps in this case mail to the original poster would have been more appropriate -- this person is knowledgeable enough to post a summary of the mail they receives (how's that for use of genderless pronouns :-). Another possibility would be a weekly or monthly "column" by certain types who know the answers to all questions, giving a summary of common questions and answers for novices. The readership of net.lang.c has really grown beyond the point where we can all post every answer we know (or every qoestion we want to ask!). I would like the idea of "localizing" groups in such a way that novices have an easier way of asking questions in their neighbourhood. Personally I usually only reply to questions from people who are geographically near me (like my roommate) or those that really seem to ask for very specialized knowledge that I happen to have. This seems to reduce the chance of duplicate postings. Also, I prefer mail even if I assume that there are other people who could benefit from my answer -- often they would benefit as much from reading a good book on C or asking their local gurus. People on sites without gurus should seek contact with a nearby guru before asking the net. Nothing personal folks -- I just would like to be able to keep reading this group. Mod.std.c clearly is no replacement (and is also becoming rather boring from nit-picking comments). Guido van Rossum, CWI, Amsterdam. (guido@mcvax.UUCP)