Re[2]: [ga] GA-REVIEW & Other Mailing Lists

["William X. Walsh" <william@userfriendly.com>]

Hello Dassa,

Monday, June 11, 2001, 3:53:49 AM, Dassa wrote:

> Perhaps we should add software tutorials to the FAQ site when it is
> developed?

And this isn't directed at your Darryl, but just at this entire
subject in general.

How much are we expected to coddle people?

Someone else objected to posters not supplying what would amount to a
complete glossary at the end of every post.  Others now want to make
participation more of a chore by forcing participants to use a web
based interface which is never as convenient as email.

I agree completely with you Darryl.  This is an issue that should be
dealt with by the user.  Most modern email clients support threading
in folders, and have useful filtering mechanisms that users can use to
filter mailing list emails into separate folders for each mailing list
they are on.

But is it our responsibility to teach them how to do it?

I've made my point before that we not only do ourselves, but those who
are new to the lists as well, a disservice if we constantly cater to
the lowest common denominator.  If we do that, we never advance.

It is much easier for one person to advance themself by asking
questions and seeking understanding (either by doing a search engine
lookup, or looking at the context of terms used repeatedly) than it
would be for us to constantly cater to them, which would never let the
discussion advance beyond the most basic levels.

This isn't elitist.  It's about taking responsibility for yourself.
If asked, I and others on this list have always been willing and able
to provide pointers and explanations, both on and off list, to those
who ask.  It is much better to do it that way, as needed, than to do
it in each and every message.

As I said, to comply with one user's recent complaint, we would
require a glossary attached to each of our messages.

-- 
Best regards,
William X Walsh
mailto:william@userfriendly.com
Owner, Userfriendly.com
Userfriendly.com Domains
The most advanced domain lookup tool on the net


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