On Oct 16, 2007, at 11:59 AM, Martin Banner wrote:
Any help would be appreciated. Private replies please so as not to clog up everyone else's mailbox.
I don't know the answer to Martin's question, but I'm interested to know others' thoughts on this last request. I recognize that it is motivated out of a genuine courteous desire not to impose on others, but I wonder if it doesn't have the opposite effect.
My concern is that when a question posed on a public forum is answered with private replies it causes others to waste their time answering a question that has already been answered.
I've been mostly inactive lately, but in the past I have often put quite a bit of time into helping out others who inquire on topics where I have some knowledge. That's my choice, of course, and I'm happy to help give back to a community that has helped me so much. But if I do put time into responding, I'd like to know that my efforts aren't completely wasted because someone else has already provided the same answer. This is true whether I'm composing a lengthy response, or just posting a short answer.
When a query is answered on-list, I can see what answers have already been given. When the questioner requests replies off-list, I cannot.
It's easy enough, when reading this list, to skip messages on topics that aren't of interest. It seems to me that whatever small inconvenience it is to "clog up everyone else's mailbox" is far less of a imposition than possibly encouraging several others to take the trouble to answer a question when one would suffice.
Besides that, answers to a question might be helpful to others besides the original questioner. Even on topics where I think I already know quite a bit, I still sometimes learn something from reading others' answers.
For me, the choice is plain: Unless it's truly a private matter, any question asked on the forum should be answered on the forum. Does anyone have an argument for the opposite view?
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