Date: Tue, 25 Apr 1995 09:58:35 +1000 (EST) From: Gary Roberts <gary@wcs.uq.oz.au> To: hsu@freefall.cdrom.com (Jeffrey Hsu) Cc: hackers@FreeBSD.org Subject: Re: Gating hackers into the newsgroups Message-ID: <9504242358.AA15172@wcs.uq.edu.au> In-Reply-To: <199504241931.MAA14200@freefall.cdrom.com> from "Jeffrey Hsu" at Apr 24, 95 12:31:27 pm
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Jeffrey Hsu writes: > > but there is a point in expanding the NEWS coverage.. > rememeber I was suggesting MAIL -> News and not visa-versa. > > Sorry, I wasn't explicit in my last mail message. We both agree on > expanding the news coverage. I want to go further and see the news > coverage subsume the mailing lists, but for the moment, I'd be > happy just to see the mail -> news gateway. Of course, I'd be happier > to see the news -> mail gateway too. Then I can unsubscribe to the mailing > lists and just read news. (Anyone who likes mail can still get their > quota of mail by staying on the mailing lists. Nothing in this proposal > changes the status quo for them.) Are you sure?? Doesn't the news -> mail gateway immediately bombard those on the mailing lists with a whole lot more traffic?? It seems to me that one of the problems is volume of newbie traffic and FAQs. If FreeBSD is going to increase its market share then we need newbies (as well as converts). What do people think of this suggestion:- I think there are probably a large number of `semi-skilled' users (like myself) who love FreeBSD and have developed to the point of having no real problems with basic installation and configuration, kernel re-building, etc. We `lurk' on these lists but for whatever reason only occasionally enter the discussion or try to help. The `power' developers (and I'm not going to name any names -- we all know who you are) need to be freed from having overflowing mailboxes. If every `lurker' agreed to `adopt a newbie' and hold his/her hand until he/she got running, that should immediately reduce newbie traffic in both news and mail by transferring the traffic from the public lists to private e-mail. However, to receive this service, each newbie would have to agree to themselves `adopting a newbie' once they had got up and running (say 1-2 months after starting). This service could be advertised in news and some willing (?) person could keep a register of both `helpers' and newbies and allocate each newbie to an available helper. After a month or two, the newbie then gets transferred to the `helper' list which guarantees an automatically growing list of helpers. If a newbie asks a helper a question that the helper can't handle, then and *only* then does that question get passed onto the appropriate mailing list. The above is only a quick sketch of the idea. I'm sure others will find flaws or think of improvements. Apart from a few scripts, I have no programming skills. However I would really like to ease the burden on those who are `at the coal face' and it seems to me that some sort of `one to one' relationship with a newbie is the best way I can help. What do others think?? Cheers, -- Gary Roberts (gary@wcs.uq.edu.au) (Ph +617 844 0400 Fax +617 844 0444) 4th Floor, South Bank House, 234 Grey St, South Bank QLD 4101 Australia.
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