[cobalt-users] On FAQs.

["Dom Latter" <d.latter@xxxxxxx>]

There's been some discussion of FAQs and so on lately.

My 0.02 - we could do with a "proper" FAQ.  The meta-FAQ 
is part of the solution to the same problem: increasing
the signal-to-noise ratio on the list.  It does this by
giving sources of information and some pointers about 
good mailing-list practice; in fact, the sort of stuff 
that forms section Zero of many proper grown-up FAQs.

There are - as has been much pointed-out - two main 
sources of information to answer such familiar old 
favourites as "what's with this relaying denied error
message?"

But....

The archives are full of inaccurate information, and 
people replying "check the archives"; finding a definitive
answer is not going to be easy, and a frustrated newbie 
could perhaps be forgiven for giving up and turning to 
the list, to ask yet again.

The Knowledge Base, on the other hand, does not 
a) necessarily reflect what consumes the list bandwidth
b) is unlikely to contain honest answers to such questions
as "how long do you wait before installing the latest OS
updates?"
c) requires "registration", and cookies enabled
d) doesn't form one nice big document that you might print 
out to do a bit of background reading
e) doesn't (seem to) have an index list of all the questions
f) is probably copyright and restricted in its distribution.

Hence a properly maintained FAQ would IMO be of benefit to 
this list, and **complementary** to the archives and the KB.

Which means it needs a maintainer.  This would IMO be 
somebody with current RaQ experience, which rather handily 
rules me out, being the part-time admin of an obsolete Qube.

What you get with the job is, of course, massive kudos, 
nit-picking arguments with pedants, no immediate financial 
reward, the vague possibility of picking up some work, and
yet more kudos.

Okay ladeeezungennelmun, form an orderly line, fill in 
this here application form....