> I found that the Postgres mailing list was full of very polite, super > helpful people. I found that the MySQL list was full of relatively cranky > people with little patience. > > Over that last year, I've I think I've discovered why. The average quality > of the questions posted on the MySQL list are quite low (compared to the > Postgres lists), and I think many of the people who are in a position to > respond are fed up.
That's part of the price of "fame." You get more people who know of MySQL as a "buzzword," so think "Oh, I'll try that." In addition, there are a lot of open source programs out there that use MySQL as their back end, thus, many more people are trying to install MySQL. In the end, you get the people that don't and/or refuse to read documentation, and just post to the list. > "Sir, > > How I use MySQL? Why I want use it? Where I download from? > > Kindest regard." Not to disparage our foreign members, but it does seem that often those for whom English is not their mother tongue do not want to read through pages of English documentation. There are other languages for the docs I believe, but those don't always get found. > Maybe a new MySQL list is needed - one called Dumb Questions, and when > someone posts one to any other list, someone can quickly respond, "Please > repost this on the MySQL Dumb Questions list, as that's where it belongs". What is needed is moderation. I would happily volunteer to serve as moderator on this list (check back later to see if I've changed my mind :), as it is not terribly high traffic (and would be even lower if we eliminated all the newbie posts). When a post came across the list that is answered in the archives or the docs, a message could be bounced back saying so. It would probably cut list traffic by half. j----- k----- -- Joshua J. Kugler -- Fairbanks, Alaska -- ICQ#:13706295 Every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess, in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, that Jesus Christ is LORD -- Count on it! -- MySQL General Mailing List For list archives: http://lists.mysql.com/mysql To unsubscribe: http://lists.mysql.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]
