raymond@math.berkeley.edu (Raymond Chen) (05/05/90)
The Frequently Asked Questions file project has died due to lack of interest. The number of contributions to the file can be counted on the noses on my face. My apologies for wasting your time.
libes@cme.nist.gov (Don Libes) (05/08/90)
>In article <1990May5.070317.11503@agate.berkeley.edu> raymond@math.berkeley.edu writes: >>The Frequently Asked Questions file project has died due to lack of interest. >Which is to me a very strong signal that the MS-DOS (and UNIX) questions >aren't a small, fixed set that can be answered in a short FAQ. Many of the questions are better addressed in the literature already. If your answer is so breathtakingly masterful or comprehensive, then you should publish it so we can refer to it in the future. I encourage people to answer questions by citing references to easily accessible sources. For example: Q: How does malloc work? A: See K&R2, page ... Q: Can we add "complex" to C? A: See JCLT, vol 1, page ... Q: How do I do reverse video in C? Questions like the last one are often underspecified and cannot be answered immediately. (Such questions indicate people are in over their head, and couldn't really use the answer if you gave it to them anyway.) I learned a long time ago that giving people direct answers guarantees they will come back to you for the next question. Instead I show them how to answer questions for themselves. "Don, how do you make a pointer to a function returning an int?" I say, "How do I make a pointer to a function returning an int? Well, gee... I dunno offhand, but I think "C: A Reference Manual" has a chapter on declarations. Hmm, table of contents say "chapter 4 ... declarations" aha! [Turn to chapter 4] Ohhh there is a nice discussion of this very topic called "composition of declarators" on page 71. I wish I had time to read it, but ... well why don't you go ahead and read it for yourself." (I say this very sincerely.) Most of the time I send people to K&R, H&S, the Standard, (half a dozen other books I've got on my desk,) USENIX or other proceedings, and various periodicals such as BSTJ and the C Users Journal, always explaining why I selected the resource I did. Extremely rarely I suggest asking comp.lang.c. Once or twice I've suggested mailing to someone like Doug or Chris. I'm rather pleased that I've never been embarrassed reading a posting to comp.lang.c from our site. My answers often end with "you really should have a [copy, subscription, whatever] of that if you're going to be referring to it often." Virtually the only questions I get anymore are really difficult ones that aren't written down anywhere, and an occasional question from a new user who hasn't met me before. The point of all this is that the FAQ is in a handful of books and periodicals. Of course you can't package that into a short essay. The only thing you can package is a bunch of references. (If I wrote the FAQ, it would just be references.) Even ANSI C already has a large number of books and articles written about it. To those of you who can't afford these books or subscriptions I say: You (or your computer center) bought a $10,000 machine without the $500 set of readings!?!? Evidentally you priced an incomplete system and could never have afforded the complete system. To those of you who can't make head or tails of the books, find a local guru, before blindly posting to the world. To summarize: If you want to make an FAQ, it should be primarily references. If it really answered all the common questions that we see here, it would be several books. And they exist already. (Believe me, there are very few things that haven't been published!) I really am serious about one-line answers. I've seen only one person doing this. Cite the work, and then resist the temptation to paraphrase it, or comment on it. I realize there are valid articles to be posted to this newsgroup. Let's eradicate the junk so we can see them. Don Libes libes@cme.nist.gov ...!uunet!cme-durer!libes
henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) (05/08/90)
In article <4084@muffin.cme.nist.gov> libes@cme.nist.gov (Don Libes) writes: >Many of the questions are better addressed in the literature already. >If your answer is so breathtakingly masterful or comprehensive, then >you should publish it so we can refer to it in the future. Unfortunately, the reason the abbreviation "RTFM" exists is that people *don't read* the literature. The usual result of this is that they post a query and it provokes two weeks of discussion, much of it ill-informed. I really do think a frequently-asked-questions list, containing *information* and not just references, is useful; the trouble is that compiling it is a lot of work. -- If OSI is the answer, what is | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology the question?? -Rolf Nordhagen| uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu
peter@ficc.uu.net (Peter da Silva) (05/09/90)
In article <1990May8.154907.26477@utzoo.uucp> henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes: > I really do think a frequently-asked-questions list, containing *information* > and not just references, is useful; the trouble is that compiling it is a > lot of work. OK, has anyone been archiving Henry Spencer's posts in comp.lang.c? It'd make a good starting point, anyway. -- `-_-' Peter da Silva. +1 713 274 5180. <peter@ficc.uu.net> 'U` Have you hugged your wolf today? <peter@sugar.hackercorp.com> @FIN Commercial solicitation *is* accepted by email to this address.
decot@hpisod2.HP.COM (Dave Decot) (05/09/90)
> I encourage people to answer questions by citing references to easily > accessible sources. For example: > > Q: How does malloc work? > A: See K&R2, page ... > > Q: Can we add "complex" to C? > A: See JCLT, vol 1, page ... Do you really think everyone has the economic resources to keep a current set of JCLT around? Subscriptions to this publication are rather expensive. Dave
bph@buengc.BU.EDU (Blair P. Houghton) (05/09/90)
In article <E9B30PExds13@ficc.uu.net> peter@ficc.uu.net (Peter da Silva) writes: >In article <1990May8.154907.26477@utzoo.uucp> henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes: >> I really do think a frequently-asked-questions list, containing *information* >> and not just references, is useful; the trouble is that compiling it is a >> lot of work. > >OK, has anyone been archiving Henry Spencer's posts in comp.lang.c? It'd >make a good starting point, anyway. No, but I know someone who's been archiving Henry Spencer's .sig quotes. Will that help? --Blair "Holy attribution, Batman!"
ck@voa3.UUCP (Chris Kern) (05/10/90)
In article <1990May8.154907.26477@utzoo.uucp> henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes: >. . . the reason the abbreviation "RTFM" exists is that people >*don't read* the literature. The usual result of this is that they post >a query and it provokes two weeks of discussion, much of it ill-informed. Precisely. The problem has never been frequently-asked questions. It is frequently-given answers, many of them sufficiently dubious to (1) alert long-time subscribers to this group -- i.e., just about everyone except the type of person who posts a frequently-asked question -- to the fact that they are ill-informed and (2) provoke corrections from others who do know the answer and who feel the need to counteract the previous misinformation. Perhaps what we need is a monthly posting that says something to the effect: "Many questions about C are asked over and over. Knowledgeable subscribers to this group grow weary of them, and never post follow-ups, although they may assist the original poster by replying via electronic mail. Therefore, if you post a question, only the mailed responses can be considered reliable." The regular subscribers will be able to distinguish between a legitimate and a bogus thread, the newcomers will be warned -- and maybe those who habitually rise to the bait of a frequently-asked question will show some restraint in the interest of avoiding the stigma of being considered less than knowledgeable. -- Chris Kern Voice of America, Washington, D.C. ...uunet!voa3!ck +1 202-485-7020
libes@cme.nist.gov (Don Libes) (05/10/90)
In article <2550128@hpisod2.HP.COM> decot@hpisod2.HP.COM (Dave Decot) writes: >> I encourage people to answer questions by citing references to easily >> accessible sources. For example: >> >> Q: How does malloc work? >> A: See K&R2, page ... >> >> Q: Can we add "complex" to C? >> A: See JCLT, vol 1, page ... > >Do you really think everyone has the economic resources to keep a current >set of JCLT around? Subscriptions to this publication are rather expensive. I have mixed feelings about JCLT. It is expensive and I wish the price was a lot lower. However, the articles are generally excellent. (Plus they carry no advertising.) JCLT addresses a very clearly defined slice of C topics. If you are interested in these areas, it is a must. If you personally can't afford it, or cannot borrow a copy from your local technical library, I must question how you got your computer (and job) without adequate documentation. JCLT is not for everyone. I rarely refer people to it. However, if someone walked into my office and began to discuss their ideas for modifying the C language, I would indeed expect them to have read JCLT, otherwise they don't value their time very much. Like I said in my earlier message, most of this stuff has been published before. Don Libes libes@cme.nist.gov ...!uunet!cme-durer!libes Disclaimer: I have no connection with JCLT.