Re: [cobalt-users] META FAQ Suggestion

[Alfredo <alfredo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Referencing a number of comments about the Knowledge Base and why we 
should push Cobalt/Sun to maintain it better.

I don't think we can expect Cobalt/Sun to clean up the KB. We're 
dealing with a machine whose "authorized" scope is relatively narrow 
(the GUI and what IT does) but whose users can and often do go way 
beyond that scope. In many real life situations, we MUST go beyond it.

In that sense, most people agree, the KB is not very helpful. And I 
think it can sometimes be downright confusing and misleading. If a 
Raq administrator has to rely on the manual and the KB to deal with 
day to day issues, he/she is going to fail. Hence the posting of so 
many "basic" issues on this list -- they aren't "basic" if all you 
have is the manual and the KB.

But can we really expect more from Cobalt/Sun? I don't think they can 
provide the kind of specific information you can get from people who 
are actually grappling with these issues in real service settings and 
they're simply not going to spend a lot of time working on issues 
outside the scope of the GUI. It's really not their job!

Jeff Lasman isn't substituting himself for Cobalt here as I read his 
comments. He's only offering to "use" his authorization to allow the 
rest of us to get solid and correct information on that KB -- whether 
HE implements the particular solution or not (as long as he's sure it 
works, which is a responsible stance given his position).

Sure, we CAN all submit material. But isn't it better to do that 
through a guy we know and can follow up with, discuss issues with, 
etc. than with a technician with whom we have no relationship at all?

Sounds like a good offer to me and I think we should maybe consider doing this.

And I think we should also thank Jeff for the offer. I'm thanking him 
right now.

Alfredo
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