Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1999 16:38:24 -0700 (PDT) From: Doug White <dwhite@resnet.uoregon.edu> To: David Anderson <DRCAnderson@xtra.co.nz> Cc: Questions <freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: Re: Open Letter to List Message-ID: <Pine.BSF.4.03.9904261628520.6951-100000@resnet.uoregon.edu> In-Reply-To: <001f01be9000$de84d6c0$a925fea9@dynasite98>
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On Mon, 26 Apr 1999, David Anderson wrote: > Could I be so bold as to ask what criteria is used to determine which > questions (posted to the list) are answered first (or at all)? In my mailbox, it's by Pine's Ordered Subject sort criteria, so first by subject then by date. > I had noticed that some folks manage to get 2 and 3 postings answered > consequtively while my newbie posting appears to be avoided =) Well, your message was posted late Sunday (local time, I think) and I last read mail Friday afternoon. I had the weekend's mail to sort through first. As I said, it's in roughly date order. Your message was well written, but it showed that you didn't read the message. :-) It told you exactly what the problem was -- there was a syntax error (format problem) on line 16 in the passwd file. If you type 'vipw' then '16+' your cursor would have ended up on the offending line. In cases where you make changes and it breaks, you should first undo your change, then understand what you did wrong. > What do I draw from this? That my question is too basic and others are > given priority because they are more interesting to the respondents? > I'm puzzled...... It's all about date order. :) I didn't check the frequency of your postings. Posting the same question multiple times within a 6 hour period particulary raises my ire. This isn't instant support, and although I can process messages very, very quickly (as others on the list will attest to), I do have a real life elsewhere and replying to messages drops my message read rate down to 1/minute or so (down from 2/second). :-) <SOAPBOX> Paitience, my son. If your question is not answered in a few days, consider how the question was formulated. Provide more information if applicable. Read available documentation. And finally, do not complain about the speed of support on a free, volunteer mailing list. If you need speed, you can purchase support contracts from http://www.freebsdmall.com/. </SOAPBOX> Doug White Internet: dwhite@resnet.uoregon.edu | FreeBSD: The Power to Serve http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~dwhite | www.freebsd.org PS: Don't try to circumvent my sorting mechanism by putting symbols at the front of the subject line...those messages get the speedy 'D-key' treatment :-) To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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