From owner-freebsd-questions Sun Dec 22 21:46:20 2002 Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E1EFF37B401 for ; Sun, 22 Dec 2002 21:46:17 -0800 (PST) Received: from post-21.mail.nl.demon.net (post-21.mail.nl.demon.net [194.159.73.20]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id D6BE943EDA for ; Sun, 22 Dec 2002 21:46:16 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from cls@raggedclown.net) Received: from [212.238.197.102] (helo=mailhost.raggedclown.net) by post-21.mail.nl.demon.net with esmtp (Exim 3.36 #1) id 18QLPr-000Poq-00 for freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG; Mon, 23 Dec 2002 05:46:15 +0000 Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by mailhost.raggedclown.net (Ragged Clown Mail Gateway [dawn]) with ESMTP id A12D41662 for ; Mon, 23 Dec 2002 06:46:14 +0100 (CET) Received: from willow.raggedclown.net (willow.raggedclown.intra [192.168.1.10]) by mailhost.raggedclown.net (Ragged Clown Mail Gateway [dawn]) with ESMTP id D5E78EC5 for ; Mon, 23 Dec 2002 06:46:01 +0100 (CET) Received: by willow.raggedclown.net (Ragged Clown Host [willow], from userid 1009) id 4B585225D9; Mon, 23 Dec 2002 06:46:02 +0100 (CET) Date: Mon, 23 Dec 2002 06:46:02 +0100 From: Cliff Sarginson To: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: List etiquette Message-ID: <20021223054602.GA16438@raggedclown.net> References: <20021223003837.GC87124@dan.emsphone.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.1i X-Virus-Scanned: by AMaViS 0.3.12pre8 Sender: owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk List-ID: List-Archive: (Web Archive) List-Help: (List Instructions) List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG On Sun, Dec 22, 2002 at 08:39:17PM -0500, John Bleichert wrote: > On Sun, 22 Dec 2002, Dan Nelson wrote: > > Date: Sun, 22 Dec 2002 18:38:37 -0600 > > Subject: Re: List etiquette > > > > In the last episode (Dec 22), Mike Jeays said: > > > Many times I have asked questions on this list, and had helpful > > > replies from one or more people. My usual practice is to reply to > > > them directly and thank them, and tell them whether their idea > > > helped. This avoids cluttering up the list with "thank-you" > > > messages, but may look as though I haven't bothered to even listen. > > > > > > Should one post such replies to the list? > > > > It's a good idea, so that people reading the thread later have > > confirmation that the suggestion actually was the correct solution. > > > Yes, this is important, I think a thread with an affirmative onclusion should be registered on the list. Someone in the future may not know you need to wear a penguin suite and sing the Hallelulah Chorus when you wish to install Port X. On a second note, if while waiting for an answer, and you discover it yourself then post the answer, close the ticket so to speak. > Agreed - by having a solution confirmation in the archives of this list, > it makes searching the archives a little easier and more believable. Not > that I minded the private 'danke' :) > > > > Secondly, an occasional question goes unanswered - perhaps because no > > > one thought it was interesting enough to reply. Is it acceptable to > > > post it again after a few days? > > > > I'd wait a week before reposting, and then try to ask the question a > > different way, or provide more info. > > > Yup, unfortunately you will always believe that someone *does* know the answer to your question, so re-posting a week or so later sometimes works. If it does not, then you are perhaps asking on the wrong list or the people who know are all holidaying in the Seychelles on the huge profits they make from answering questions on FreeBSD :) > Ocassionally there will be no response because nobody knows the answer > *or* it's been answered ad nauseum in the archives. Re-posting with an > update, however, does keep the archives up to date. > Private thank you's are nice.,but I think some people will find it enough that you have acknowledged the solution proposed works in the public forum. Of course there is a class of questions for which you will get a shell and an awk and a perl and a sed and a python and a ruby answer, often many of all of them. Hee hee ,,, -- Regards Cliff Sarginson The Netherlands [ This mail has been checked as virus-free ] To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message