Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 18:33:55 +0200 (MET DST) From: "Julian H. Stacey" <jhs@freebsd.org> To: doc@freebsd.org Subject: share/doc/FAQ/obj/freebsd-faq.html Message-ID: <199607011633.SAA13589@vector.jhs.no_domain>
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Based on current src/ Quick Suggestion: Add clickable HREFs right at end of freebsd-faq.html for - Questions (mailto:questions@freebsd.org) - FAQ Errors, (mailto: doc editors) Style & Colloquialisms: 7.3. Hey! Chmod ... 7.6. Hey! My printer is slow as a dog ... This style makes the FAQ harder to quickly scan when people look to see if a question is in the FAQ before posting. The harder the FAQ index is to visually scan, the more postings we'll get. I suggest changes such as: s/Hey! Chmod/Chmod/ s/7.6. Hey! My printer is slow as a dog/ 7.6. Printer too slow: how to speed it up./ Colloquial `slow as a dog' is fine for native English speakers, but is it obvious to a Chinese or Brazilian etc ? Some dogs are fast (`Imperialist running dogs' at least :-) maybe some people will find `as slow as a dog' non obvious. Daft answers don't deserve to clutter the index & waste space forever: Delete: `7.20. Has anyone done any temperature testing.....' the question is debatable, the answer is just wasted space. Delete `7.21 ...memory to make a scratchy sound?...' The answer is wasted space, & doesnt even mention the floppy media sensing head seeks in the bios. Longer Term Suggestion: Reorder the words in the FAQ sections titles, similar to the way a stores list of engineering components is listed, so that the index is visually scannable fast & easily. EG: Printer, colour, driver: fails when blah blah Printer, postscript: filters available Printer, parallel port: interrupt config Printer, serial: interface parameters Changes would require some small departure from the traditional net news FAQ format, but that was typically just a collection of Q & A's slung together by one person. The FreeBSD FAQ in sgml format with HREFs & lots of readers could perhaps benefit from a more rigorous indexed format, stripped of surplus entries, phrases words ? This is intended as constructive criticism, hoping not to annoy anyone, Yes, I too find the FAQ useful even as is, Thanks :-) PS I've appended no diffs, as it's a style issue, in the hands of those commiters who work on the FAQ. PS I'm not on docs@ list, (in case cc line is pruned later). Julian -- Julian H. Stacey jhs@freebsd.org http://www.freebsd.org/~jhs/help
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