Mail Archives: cygwin/2002/07/21/21:46:53
On Sun, Jul 21, 2002 at 09:56:26AM +0100, Raphael wrote:
> On Fri, 19 Jul 2002, Dario Alcocer wrote:
>
> > On Fri, Jul 19, 2002 at 07:37:21PM -0400, Christopher Faylor wrote:
> > > Actually, I suspect that most people who post here would benefit from
> > > reading the whole page. In fact, they should read it several times.
> >
> > Yes, *very* good point; several readings might be necessary for
> > some. Along those lines, I think I'll look into what it would take
> > for ezmlm to auto-reply subscribers (those making their first or
> > second post) with a message containing a URL to ESR's essay.
>
> If this list is starting autoreplying I will quit it immediatly, trafic is
> (not counting repeated spam) high enough as it is.
Well, that's OK, after all, that is your prerogative ;-) Please
read on, though...
> > Maybe
> > they have to pass a quiz before they can post (now *that* should
> > go over real well.) OTOH, maybe it would improve the signal/noise
> > ratio.
>
> IMHO the stupidest idea I've read till now, split the list in a 'dummies'
> and a 'BOFH' version but dont start disciminating through automated
> ballotage.
The idea is not split the list, but for initial posters (from what
I've seen on this list, most first-time posters qualify as newbies)
to get a quick lesson in posting meaningful questions *before* they
get to post (only for the first post.) That's why I suggested the
poster, before they're allowed to post for the first time, get an
e-mail asking them (in a cordial tone, obviously) that they *please*
read the ESR essay *first*[1].
The idea is that the auto-reply is sent only to the *poster* (thereby
*reducing* traffic on the list) on their first (or maybe even second)
post, that way we can be sure that, by the time we see their first
post on the list, they've at least *some* notion of how to post a
reasonable question. Think of it as an automated form of
pseudo-moderation; only the first-time poster is moderated, which
is done in an automated fashion.
You may ask "we're did he come up with such a stupid idea like
that!" Well, after being a member of this list for several years
now, I've seen many of the experienced people get very frustrated
with the list (DJ, Chris, and Chuck.) Most of this frustration[2]
has to do with having to "school" the new users in the proper way
to conduct inquiries with respect to Cygwin.
Now, my thought was, we can either curse the darkness, or we can
light a candle. My way of lighting a candle is to automate what
Chris and Chuck always have to do manually: ask the user to perform
some of the required "homework" that's stated in the ESR essay,
before they ask their question. Instead of continually expecting
hard-working people like Chris and Chuck to keep having to deal
with these "newbie" requests, let's automate the process (after
all, computers are good at automation), so that the newbies can
still participate (after first having been properly "trained".) The
rest of us on the list can hopefully see an increase in the quality
of the questions that are asked, and the quality of the responses,
while at the same time slightly reducing the list traffic.
== Footnotes ==
[1] - One other way to do this is to include a link to the ESR essay
in the confirmation e-mail subscribers receive, but I *doubt* very
much that most would take the time to read it then. However, if
we instead wait to ask them when they're focused on getting their
first question answered, we can hopefully start teaching them the
fine art of asking questions.
[2] - Their frustration has a direct impact on all of us; to the
extent that they feel "used and abused" (so to speak), we'll probably
see their contributions suffer, which is bad for all of us involved
in Cygwin.
--
Dario Alcocer -- Sr. Software Developer, Helix Digital Inc.
alcocer AT helixdigital DOT com -- http://www.helixdigital.com
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