From owner-freebsd-chat Sat Feb 28 22:26:32 1998 Return-Path: Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) id WAA26281 for freebsd-chat-outgoing; Sat, 28 Feb 1998 22:26:32 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from owner-freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG) Received: from pimout1-int.prodigy.net (pimout1-ext.prodigy.net [198.83.18.53]) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id WAA26198; Sat, 28 Feb 1998 22:26:23 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from jamesh@etsu.edu) Received: from localhost (jamesh@slip166-72-245-82.tn.us.ibm.net [166.72.245.82]) by pimout1-int.prodigy.net (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id BAA13514; Sun, 1 Mar 1998 01:19:34 -0500 Date: Sun, 1 Mar 1998 01:19:32 -0500 (EST) From: James X-Sender: jamesh@localhost Reply-To: zjhh2@etsu.edu To: Sue Blake cc: Greg Lehey , freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG, owner-freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG, jhhiggins@prodigy.net Subject: Re: newbies mailing list In-Reply-To: <19980301170435.11729@welearn.com.au> Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: owner-freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.org On Sun, 1 Mar 1998, Sue Blake wrote: > > OK, this is the kind of thing I had in mind. Criticism welcome. > > > OBJECTIVES: > > 1. To provide a forum to meet and exchange experiences with other new > FreeBSD users, in a tolerant, friendly and encouraging environment. > > 2. To help new users of FreeBSD to understand their problems sufficiently > to present a well formed question to the FreeBSD support list, > freebsd-questions@freebsd.org > > > > DO I BELONG HERE? > > Try this quick quiz: > 1. Do you know the command to make a file that lists all the executable > files less than 2k in size that were created in the last 2 weeks? Yes, find ....but don't ask me how to make it do it : ) > 2. Have you ever done something incredibly stupid? UMMM, would anyone believe me if I said no?? > If you answered no to the first and yes to the second, you'll be OK. I guess I am in the clear.. :) //section snipped see thread > WARNING: > > Don't trust any advice you get here! We're all newbies, and any response to > a question will be at best an uneducated guess. If you act on what we say > without checking its validity you're likely to do great damage to your > system, probably your brain too. > > Throw ideas around and make your mistakes here, but if you want real answers > and guidance that's worth considering, write to freebsd-questions@freebsd.org. > If it turns out that you've overlooked something really silly, we're not > going to laugh at you. Our answers will often be just as silly. For > example, you could use this list to help formulate a question that the > helpful souls on freebsd-questions will find easy to answer properly. Still > ask freebsd-questions even if you think we've already answered it here. The warning is valid, but it does seem to kill the legitimacy of the list. What is the point of an answer, if there is no gaurntee that it does not work. Then again, all advice taken on any the lists is assumed to be correct. The real thing to do, albeit a weak stance, is just say, "Use some sense in what advice you use, and if at all possible test it in some way first." The other side of this coin is, "If they are new, what kind of grounds do they have to test advice." Sticky situation either way..... James To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message