Date: Thu, 23 Dec 2004 18:52:29 -0800 From: Joshua Tinnin <krinklyfig@spymac.com> To: freebsd-newbies@freebsd.org Cc: 'S Jagger' <stefan@thinki.co.uk> Subject: Re: Time to shut down this list? Message-ID: <200412231852.29773.krinklyfig@spymac.com> In-Reply-To: <001001c4e95f$6b30c620$142a15ac@spud> References: <001001c4e95f$6b30c620$142a15ac@spud>
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On Thursday 23 December 2004 06:22 pm, "Darren Pilgrim" <dmp@bitfreak.org> wrote: > > From: S Jagger > > > > I will voice my opinion on this matter. > > > > The freebsd-newbies list should be an open area for new users to > > FreeBSD. As I read earlier.. people are intimidated by > > posting to other > > groups. > > > > This list should be for anything and everything. Questions or > > Suggestions. > > > > Stefan > > The end of this thread contains the phrase, "The charter of this list > was hashed out years ago, is now well-established, works reasonably > well At the risk of sounding impertinent, I disagree that it works reasonably well. I do think there is some value in a newbie list, but 50%+ of the traffic on this list for extended periods of time is technical questions, a few scattered answers and admonitions to ask the questions list. For some people, the questions list is overwhelming and intimidating. I think this list would work reasonably well under the current charter if it were moderated. I don't have much history with the FreeBSD community, but since I brought it up, I'm willing to offer to do that. I do have extensive experience moderating email lists. But I also think that this list would "work" better if it had a slightly different charter which allowed for entry-level tech questions, and a clause that reiterates all users should be polite to people who ask what might seem like silly questions. I think that's what newbies need more than anything: a place to ask questions about rudimentary problems without feeling a sense of intimidation about doing it. Some of the questions would be/are basic *nix stuff, which isn't necessarily on-topic in questions, but it would be nice for those very new (to *nix in general) users to have a place to ask about that sort of thing. Anyway, my two cents. Other than that, if nothing else I hope that this list can survive in some useful form. - jt > and isn't likely to change much any time soon." > > This thread can be expected to cover these additional points: > > - The -questions list has a bug: when a common or newbie > non-technical question is posted, a race condition occurs in which > everyone tries to wait for someone else to answer the question. > > - Those of us who read and answer technical questions posted here > are urged do so with redirection to -questions. Failure to do so > usually results in careful application of clue-oriented, dimensional > wood-products. > > - Also recommended are pointers to additional resources, such as > searchable mailing list archives and pointers to other threads or > guides adressing the queried subject.
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