[COMPLAINT] Unhelpful summaries

From: foster@bial1.ucsd.edu
Date: Fri May 29 1998 - 12:45:06 CDT


Fellow Sun Managers:

Can we all agree that the summary below is not very helpful? I'm sorry
to pick on the author, but I've noticed a LOT of similar "pseudo-summaries"
lately, and I think people are missing the point of this list.

I've even seen more than a few "thank-yous" sent to the list, with no
summary information, so it is clear that many people posting questions are
not aware that EVERYONE on the list is supposed to benefit from the answers
you receive.

When you post a question, you are responsible for posting a followup
summary which:

  1. ...includes [SUMMARY] in the "Subject" line!
  1. ...includes your original question (don't assume anyone will
     remember anything...we're all pretty busy).
  2. ...actually summarizes your findings. You're not supposed to just
     include the answers you received, although this is helpful; it is
     your responsibility to filter through it and summarize the
     important points. If different methods are suggested, then try
     them out and report on the results.

A small price to pay for such an incredible source of information.

Can someone please refresh my memory as to why it is a bad idea to
require that those posting to the list are actually subscribed to it?
It's quite clear that many people posting questions have never read
the list charter, and have no clue how the list operates.

There, I'm done.

Dave
  

==== "SUMMARY" ======================================================
  Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 16:07:04 +0200
  From: <snip>
  MIME-Version: 1.0
  To: SUNmanagerListe Intenational <sun-managers@ra.mcs.anl.gov>
  Subject: RADIUS 2. Solaris

  Hi folks,

  my mistake, i used CFLAGS for 2.4.

  mfg
=====================================================================

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    David S. Foster Univ. of California, San Diego
     Programmer/Analyst Brain Image Analysis Laboratory
     foster@bial1.ucsd.edu Department of Psychiatry
     (619) 622-5892 8950 Via La Jolla Drive, Suite 2240
                            La Jolla, CA 92037
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   



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