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<== Date ==> <== Thread ==>

Subject: Re: Improving S/N on tech-talk
From: Benjamin Franksen <[email protected]>
To: Harvey Rarback <[email protected]>
Cc: [email protected]
Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 13:09:18 +0100
Jeff Hill wrote:
> 
> There was a complaint about allowing this sort of answer to be copied
> back to the mail list. If this is the general consensus then I will
> be careful to only send a response to the person asking this sort of
> question in the future.

Harvey Rarback wrote:
> 
> I get useful information from this list, but I'm often frustrated when I don't
> hear of the resolution of some problem or do hear many theoretical, but perhaps
> mistaken, solutions for posted problems.  
> 
> I propose that we follow the model of
> another technical support list I subscribe to and which I find extremely
> effective:
> 
> >   6. Answers to questions are to be mailed back to the questioner and are
> >      not to be sent to the entire list. Before responding, please make sure
> >      the questioner hasn't already posted a summary. People often respond
> >      very quickly to messages posted to the list and it's not unusual for a
> >      summary to be posted within an hour of the original question. This is
> >      especially important if you only read list messages periodically.
> >
> >   7. The person who originally asked the question has the responsibility of
> >      summarizing the answers and sending the entire summary back to the
> >      list. Consider this the price you pay for the advice you receive. When
> >      a summary is sent back to the list, it should contain the word
> >      "SUMMARY" as the first word of the "Subject" line. The summary should
> >      include a brief description of the original question and a short
> >      synopsis of each of the unique responses. Don't just list the
> >      respondents or say the problem is fixed, and don't just include a copy
> >      of all of the responses.

I like the idea of a summary posted by the initiator of a thread, in
order to have a compact reference in case one encounters a similar
problem. I'd go even further and propose to cross-post these summaries
to a dedicated mailing list for easier reference.

I dislike to have *only* this summary posted and not the original
attempts at a solution. My reasons are:

(1) Sometimes fruitful discussions of important general topics arise
from a thread about a specific problem. If people don't have access to
the answers to a specific problem, they cannot participate.

(2) The "open mode" that is usually followed in tech-talk, often keeps
people from answering to a question because somebody else already gave
the (same) answer.

(3) I learned quite a lot about EPICS by carefully reading the postings.

(4) IMHO the tech-talk is more than a technical support list, but also a
general forum aimed at the improvement of EPICS. We should keep in mind
that EPICS is the result of collaboration.

Ben
-- 
The Notorious Neb Nesknarf


Replies:
Re: Improving S/N on tech-talk Paul Sichta
References:
Improving S/N on tech-talk Harvey Rarback

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