null@rimfaxe.diku.dk (Niels Ull Jacobsen) (04/16/91)
In the last couple of months there have been asked a lot of repetitious
(sp) questions: "How do I treat an .lzh file?", "Is there a ZIP for Unix?",
"What is the difference between EMS and XMS" etc.
I think this indicates that the "Answers to FAQ" should be posted more often.
Perhaps once a week ?
On the other hand, the whole FAQ file is perhaps a bit too long. Perhaps an
index to the questions should be posted, along with instructions on how to
obtain the whole file by ftp or mail server. This should avoid the bandwidth
problem.
What do people think of this proposal? I hope that it would clear up some of
the unnecessary postings.
Niels Ull Jacobsen, Dep. of C.S., U of Copenhagen (null@diku.dk)
Adaz sighed. "So how long will this journey take?"
"A month?" Sutekh shrugged. "Depends on when the horses die."
-- from "Adaz & Sutekh" by Jeff Stehmanncctr132@csc.canterbury.ac.nz (Nick FitzGerald, CSC, Uni. of Canterbury, NZ) (04/17/91)
In article <1991Apr16.090229.1749@odin.diku.dk>, null@rimfaxe.diku.dk (Niels Ull Jacobsen) writes: > In the last couple of months there have been asked a lot of repetitious > (sp) questions: "How do I treat an .lzh file?", "Is there a ZIP for Unix?", > "What is the difference between EMS and XMS" etc. > > I think this indicates that the "Answers to FAQ" should be posted more often. > Perhaps once a week ? >[suggestion regarding splitting FAQ index from the actual answers deleted] May one be so bold as to suggest that instaed of create more work for Raymond, that you hassle your sys-admins to fix your news reader so it respects the "Expiry:" header line? Raymond's excellent FAQ hangs around in c.b.i.p.d at our site for 35 (?) days from posting, just as Raymond intends it to (but then, we've got a "real" news reader on a real computer - and I'm not going to start a stupid flame war by saying which either is!). --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nick FitzGerald, PC Applications Consultant, CSC, Uni of Canterbury, N.Z. Internet: n.fitzgerald@csc.canterbury.ac.nz Phone: (64)(3) 642-337
null@rimfaxe.diku.dk (Niels Ull Jacobsen) (04/22/91)
In article <1991Apr17.142505.475@csc.canterbury.ac.nz>, cctr132@csc.canterbury.ac.nz (Nick FitzGerald, CSC, Uni. of Canterbury, NZ) writes: > In article <1991Apr16.090229.1749@odin.diku.dk>, I wrote: > > In the last couple of months there have been asked a lot of repetitious > > (sp) questions: "How do I treat an .lzh file?", "Is there a ZIP for Unix?", > > "What is the difference between EMS and XMS" etc. > > > > I think this indicates that the "Answers to FAQ" should be posted more often. > > Perhaps once a week ? > >[suggestion regarding splitting FAQ index from the actual answers deleted] > > May one be so bold as to suggest that instaed of create more work for > Raymond, that you hassle your sys-admins to fix your news reader so it > respects the "Expiry:" header line? > > Raymond's excellent FAQ hangs around in c.b.i.p.d at our site for 35 (?) > days from posting, just as Raymond intends it to (but then, we've got a > "real" news reader on a real computer - and I'm not going to start a > stupid flame war by saying which either is!). > I am aware of the "expire" date. However, my idea of the typical "novice" user's intro to c.b.i.p.d is as follows: A more experienced user shows N.User how to start the news reader: "Here, let me show you this, it's real neat." Goes on to visit alt.sex, rec.humor.funny and c.b.i.p.d. "Hey, you have 93576 unread articles. If you're planning on going home this weekend, you'd better mark them all as read. Here, like this." Mr. N.User reads a couple of conferences the next couple of days, and then finally musters his courage to ask: "But how do I treat all these .zoo files?" on c.b.i.p.d. Presto: Another unnecessary posting. I think that this newsgroup is one of those most often read by new users. And these might not be aware of the existance of a FAQ file. (Or even know the acronym). By increasing the frequency of the FAQ posting, we'd might catch more of them in time. And as this is a heavy bandwidth group, another weekly posting won't make that much of a difference. Just my 0.1546 Dkr (or whatever the current exchange rate is)! Niels Ull Jacobsen, Dep. of C.S., U of Copenhagen (null@diku.dk) Adaz sighed. "So how long will this journey take?" "A month?" Sutekh shrugged. "Depends on when the horses die." -- from "Adaz & Sutekh" by Jeff Stehmann > --------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Nick FitzGerald, PC Applications Consultant, CSC, Uni of Canterbury, N.Z. > Internet: n.fitzgerald@csc.canterbury.ac.nz Phone: (64)(3) 642-337 Niels Ull Jacobsen, Dep. of C.S., U of Copenhagen (null@diku.dk) Adaz sighed. "So how long will this journey take?" "A month?" Sutekh shrugged. "Depends on when the horses die." -- from "Adaz & Sutekh" by Jeff Stehmann
ts@uwasa.fi (Timo Salmi) (04/23/91)
In article <1991Apr22.140442.25249@odin.diku.dk> null@rimfaxe.diku.dk (Niels Ull Jacobsen) writes: : >I think that this newsgroup is one of those most often read by new users. >And these might not be aware of the existance of a FAQ file. (Or even know >the acronym). By increasing the frequency of the FAQ posting, we'd might >catch more of them in time. And as this is a heavy bandwidth group, another >weekly posting won't make that much of a difference. : ... much good and relevant discussion deleted ... Let me make one additional point. Even if we have FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) postings like Raymond's, plus Bill's and Keith's starter kits, and downloadable FAQ files like mine, these are perhaps not quite what you have in mind as a comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d novice new readers' kit. The necessary information is there, alright, but there is too much of it for one go. One obviously would need an edited, reasonably brief posting concentrating just on this particular purpose, and on nothing else. The crucial clincher: any volunteers! It would take some work. I can't promise for the others of the gang, but if anyone comes forward and wants the permission to use extracts from my material, just ask. ................................................................... Prof. Timo Salmi Moderating at garbo.uwasa.fi anonymous ftp archives 128.214.12.37 School of Business Studies, University of Vaasa, SF-65101, Finland Internet: ts@chyde.uwasa.fi Funet: gado::salmi Bitnet: salmi@finfun
mcastle@mcs213d.cs.umr.edu (Mike Castle {Nexus}) (04/27/91)
In article <1991Apr22.140442.25249@odin.diku.dk> null@rimfaxe.diku.dk (Niels Ull Jacobsen) writes: >In article <1991Apr17.142505.475@csc.canterbury.ac.nz>, >cctr132@csc.canterbury.ac.nz (Nick FitzGerald, CSC, Uni. of Canterbury, >NZ) writes: >> In article <1991Apr16.090229.1749@odin.diku.dk>, I wrote: >> >> May one be so bold as to suggest that instaed of create more work for >> Raymond, that you hassle your sys-admins to fix your news reader so it >> respects the "Expiry:" header line? >> >> Raymond's excellent FAQ hangs around in c.b.i.p.d at our site for 35 (?) Gee, the first article in out c.b.i.p.d is Raymond's FAQ data 28 April 1990. ^^ Maybe WE should look into our expires.... :-> -- Mike Castle (Nexus) s087891@umrvma.umr.edu or mcastle@mcs213k.cs.umr.edu Feel lonely? Want someone to send you e-mail? Just post to *.test with a Reply-To: field, and watch your mailbox explode!!