Stuck-up Wizards (Re: Summary and Fix for "slashes in filenames")

[Simon J Gerraty]

In <2509 at inews.intel.com> bhoughto at pima.intel.com (Blair P. Houghton) writes:
>In article <=H_&Z9#@rpi.edu> rodney at sun.ipl.rpi.edu (Rodney Peck II) writes:
>>You've missed the point.  I don't think that most of the flame here is
>>because someone asked how to get rid of a file with a '/' in it.  It is
>>instead because of all the people who are offering wrong answers.

>I've seen plenty of comp.unix.internals/wizards threads
>that were valuable only after a large number of people had
>tweaked the solution.  That's how problems get solved.
>Anyone who is capable of solving problems alone isn't
>hanging around playing pinochle and kibbitzing about
>slashes in filenames.

I don't think that the recent "slashes in filenames" thread fits
into that category.  Sure if someone is asking something complex
or out of the ordinary, a bit of brain-storming is in order.

>>in summary -- it's not a question of people being out of line.  it's a
>>question of being considerate when you offer advice to someone who is
>>expecting your answer to work.

>The general admonition for that is to test it yourself.

That's the exact point Rodney Peck was making.
The suggestions along the lines of "rm foo\/bar" had obviously
never been tested by the posters.  Of course they were harmless
suggestions but not all the wrong answers are.

I am no wizard, (how can I be without ever having access to AT&T
source?), yet I know UNIX pretty well.  I posted a question (to
comp.unix.questions) regarding removing a file with a slash in
it last year.  

I didn't ask "how the %^$# do I get rid of it?"  but, "hey I
can't see how this can be done without using the raw device, am
I wrong?".  I should have pointed out in my post that I knew
about fsdb and clri, but in any case I knew enough not to be
upset or confused by twits who e-mailed me along the lines of
"RTF-FAQ !!! use wild cards" or equally silly things.

However many people post questions to which they don't know the
answer, and _needing_ help not additonal confusion.  
If they ask in comp.unix.{internals,wizards} they are hoping for
answers they can trust.  If they were able to recognize the
stupid suggestions for what they were, they probably wouldn't
have needed to post in the first place.

Let's face it.  Rightly or wrongly, many readers take as gospel
that which they read in groups like comp.unix.wizards.  
I think Rodney Peck's summary is right on target.
-- 
Simon J. Gerraty		<sjg at melb.bull.oz.au>

#include <disclaimer,_witty_comment>