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Re: Will someone rid me of this troublesome priest!?, Re: Marc strikes again



Please allow me to (hopefully) end the comic interlude before returning to
relevant topics :)

Marc A. Volovic wrote:

> In effect, I am accusing you of gross pandering, a travesty punishable in
> some circles by public flogging with a SCSI-2WD cable.
> 
> I assure you that should you be subjected to such censure, it would be my
> most pleasant duty (and, what's more, a special joy stemming from my
> supposed malicious upbringing) to implement the said censure.

Well, I won't spare any SCSI cables for flogging you - it's a waste of
resources. On the other hand, I have a couple of hungry 13 ft. pythons, and you
sure look like snake food to me...
This would, by the way, rid you not only of me, but of all your earthly
troubles, though probably deprive me of my priesthood ;-)      

Now seriously, I think there is a _real_ issue here. We all agree that
minimizing the amount of trivial/bluntly ignorant/ill-posed questions sent to
this list is highly desirable.
Marc has his malicious methods for achieving this goal, which have not yet been
proven efficient.
These methods, however, do bear the risk of freightening and offending innocent
newbies, rather than helping them become competent linux users who can help
others at a later stage.
A natural solution (suggested here by others in the past) is to compose a
detailed FAQ document, containing both references to available sources of
Linux-related information and instructions for intelligent and efficent posting
to the list: what one should try before asking for help, what he/she should
specify in the help request, etc.
Such a document may also warn the careless poster that he/she shall be exposed
to the venom of one M. Volovic, known to be lethal in extreme cases...
Periodic posting of such a FAQ to the list will enable new comers to 'know the
rules' in advance, and eliminate much of the annoying traffic. If someone still
asks an inadequate question, sending him (_not_ the list) a copy of the faq can
serve as an ample substitute to flooding the list with trivial answers and/or
scorns.

There remains one crucial question - who will write this FAQ???
I think there is only one natural candidate for the job. A man who
a. knows best the rights and wrongs of correct posting
b. is endowed with unrivalled eloquence
c. can load a short FAQ with enough sneer to deter even the bravest of document
non-readers from hasty help requests...

Well, Marc, will you do it ?


Tuvik


-- 
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Tuvik Beker 
E-mail: becket@shum.huji.ac.il           Tel: 972-3-5711685 Fax: 972-3-7322106
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postmaster@microsoft.com and becket@shum.huji.ac.il.  (c) 1995 Ryan Tucker.
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