Frequently asked questions in these groups deserve a monthly posting

[Jimmy Aitken]

In article <1189 at muffin.cme.nbs.gov> libes at cme.nbs.gov (Don Libes) writes:
>In article <21089 at iuvax.cs.indiana.edu> sahayman at iuvax.cs.indiana.edu (Steve Hayman) writes:
>>and I agree.  Isn't it time for a monthly "Introduction to
>>comp.unix.questions and comp.unix.wizards" posting, containing
>>frequently asked questions and answers?  I think this has worked well in
>>some other groups.
>
>I really think this is unnecessary, because there are already many
>books on UNIX.  I wish beginners would read a book on it first before
>wasting net bandwidth.  It would answer 99% of these questions.
>Indeed, you will find that if you try to write down all these
>questions and answers, it will be too voluminous for a posting.

I agree with the intent here, but people just don't read things first.
How many times have you read an article that the manual page answers?
I don't think I could stand another set of "How do I set my prompt to
show the current directory?" or "How can I find out the filename from
the device and inode" type questions.  Similarly, in the text
newsgroups, "How do I convert troff to postscript?" seems to rear it's
ugly head every couple of months.  Certainly something pointing out
the differences between the wizards and questions newsgroups at least
would be worthwhile.
>
>I know this is going to sound self-serving, but I just wrote a book -
>"Life With UNIX" - specifically because people were always knocking on
>my door asking the very same questions that appear in comp.unix.

I second the recommendation about this book.  Unfortunately it seems
that people read books that tell you how to edit files and use the C
compiler and then post questions. (Minor flame, why do people post a
question and then say "dont post 'coz I dont read this newsgroup".  If
they read it, perhaps the question wouldn't need to be asked.)

>I wouldn't have posted this, except that I've never seen any mention
>of it on the net (and Prentice Hall doesn't spend very much on
>advertising, grrr).

Consider it mentioned again...

jimmy
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