Date: Fri, 19 Jun 1998 10:38:27 +1000 From: Sue Blake <sue@welearn.com.au> To: Tim Gerchmez <fewtch@serv.net> Cc: "Michael P. Sale" <mike@merchantsnet.com>, freebsd-newbies@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Lists, newbies & support (was: Re: Where to get Windows Internet stuff/ More on Windows & BSD) Message-ID: <19980619103827.10661@welearn.com.au> In-Reply-To: <3.0.5.32.19980618164630.007ebe30@mx.serv.net>; from Tim Gerchmez on Thu, Jun 18, 1998 at 04:46:30PM -0700 References: <01bd9a26$571e9a20$3c06bccc@708644668> <3.0.5.32.19980618164630.007ebe30@mx.serv.net>
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> At 12:30 PM 6/17/98 -0700, Michael P. Sale wrote:
>
> >Again, I really like the list the way it is and have said so more than once.
> >The issue for me is not your managing the list, but the need for another
> >list for newbie questions.
>
On Thu, Jun 18, 1998 at 04:46:30PM -0700, Tim Gerchmez wrote:
>
> I just have one thing to say about this: There *IS* a need for a
> 'newbie-questions@freebsd.org' list. Anyone reading this who can add
> mailing lists to freebsd.org, please give this some serious thought.
> Newbies are generally those who are in their first few weeks or months of
> learning BSD. Do the folks in freebsd-questions REALLY want to answer a
> question like 'I pressed Ctrl-K in ee and it messed up my text. Is there
> any way to get it back?' or 'How do I make my sound card work under
> FreeBSD'? Reasonable questions for raw newbies who haven't learned to rtfm
> yet, and that deserve either a reply to a direct link to an appropriate
> manual section, or an answer. Sure, RTFM is the most important lesson for
> a newbie to learn, but at least a little extra niceness might be presented
> if answered from a newbies list, rather than "You moron, go read the manual
> or shut the f*$&#($ up and quit spamming our list."
>
I'm going to avoid commenting directly on your proposal, and ask you (or
anyone) to formulate it a little differently to make discussion more
productive.
What you're suggesting here is a mailing list which would contain
1. newbies asking particular types of questions, and
2. experts answering those questions.
The technical provision of mailing list itself is a minor point which we
can disregard for the time being. The main issue here is what would
happen on the list, who would do it, and how.
I'll take the newbies side of it as granted, assuming for now that
newbies will use it in the way you suggest.
The main thing you want from such a list is a supply of experienced
support volunteers whose behaviour on the list will suit what you have in
mind, which, from what you say, is not quite the behaviour they exhibit
in freebsd-questions.
This is the part you have to sort out first.
Who will support the list? How will they be trained to behave in a
suitable manner with respect to newbies? How will they be caused to
behave so? Will they know what they're talking about, and how would we
know? Will there be enough volunteer helpers? Will they spend enough time
monitoring the list to answer questions promptly and give careful
answers? Will the novelty wear off for them, and if so what happens then?
How will we maintain quality in the advice we are given? How will we
cause them to treat us with greater amounts of patience and respect? What
will this overall contribute to the FreeBSD community, and whose labour
will produce it?
The big issue here is, what's in it for the support people? Why would
they want to answer the kind of questions that would arise in the manner
that your proposal requires? What would make the really good ones prefer
to give long answers to a concentrated stream of simple repetitive and
uninteresting questions from people who have grown to rely on special
attention, when they can get a more interesting mixed bag to answer in
freebsd-questions? What do we newbies have to offer them? Where's the
what's in it for me factor?
I don't mean this to sound negative, though it probably does. It's just
to provoke some answers to the questions that need to be answered before
any others can be considered, before real planning can lead to a proposal
that will be taken seriously.
--
Regards,
-*Sue*-
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